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America is a cash-happy culture. We want to have the best, to be flashier than our neighbor, and for others to envy us.
That’s expensive. Once we get caught up in it, it’s hard not to drown in our accumulated debt.
We need to rework our lifestyle. We need to rethink how we use money. We need to be smarter and wiser if we’re ever to climb out of the muck and hold our face in the sun once more.
Proverbs 22:7 encourages us not to borrow money for small things.
“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”
Romans 13:7 challenges us that once we clear our accounts, we should pay off our credit cards every month.
“Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”
Psalm 37:21 reminds us to take our debts seriously and repay as much as we can.
“The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.”
Luke 14:28 assigns us the duty of setting up a budget. We must know where our money goes.
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”
1 Timothy 5:8 cautions us to allocate money in the budget for our family, as they are our responsibility.
“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
Romans 13:8 says love should be our currency of exchange, not gifts we cannot afford.
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
Luke 16:11 validates the importance of financial self-control. If we fail to control our spending in the physical world, how can we be trusted in the spiritual one?
“If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?”
It’s our style of living, not our cashflow that must change. When we’re no longer focused on the world, we’ll no longer need the material possessions that suck away our cash reserves.
When we focus on Christ, we’ll find freedom in following him.
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