Debt-free living is a possibility (yes, that even includes a mortgage). But it won’t happen overnight, and it won’t happen unless you take some specific steps to get there.

What can you do? These are not given in any particular order, but they will serve as a good place to start.

1. Change your attitude. Don’t accept debt as “normal”. The Bible is clear on it’s attitude toward debt – it’s not a good thing!

2. Make a commitment not to take on any more debt. Learn to laugh at the “buy now, pay later” offers. Don’t consider “low monthly payments”, consider “how much will this cost me in the long run”.

3. Develop a plan for spending money. A plan doesn’t restrict you, a plan sets you FREE to spend according to your plan. If you don’t make a plan, you will most likely find yourself spending more than you bring in (or in ways you do not intend), which inevitably means “debt”.

4. Understand ownership. It may be in “your” bank account, but as a Christian we know that it not only comes from God but ultimately belongs to God. Use it accordingly. Put God first. Tithe.

5. Keep track of spending. How are you going to make adjustments unless you know exactly where your money is going? You need to keep accurate records. The results may surprise you and show you some areas where you can make changes.

6. Adjust your lifestyle. A daily stop at a coffee shop adds up a whole lot. So does eating out. If you drive, plan your trips so you don’t drive more than necessary. And do you really need cable TV? If it means the difference between going into debt or getting out of debt, just how much can you do without? You might surprise yourself.

7. Pay off small debts first. It will encourage you and give you incentive to keep going. Also give at least a little on your larger debts, it will let your creditors know you are trying and doing something about it.

8. Don’t think “if only I had more income, I wouldn’t be in debt”. In almost all cases that is not true. People with high incomes are in great debt. True, you do need some measure of income, but MOST ALWAYS the problem isn’t income, it’s expenses.

9. Don’t be afraid to get some help. A professional (financial advisor) or perhaps even your pastor would be glad to help. But you need to do the asking.

Pastor Norman

John Wesley had a simple formula for handling money: Make all you can, Save all you can, Give all you can.

Most of us have mastered the first of these steps or at least we’re attempting to master it. We want to earn as much as we can. I know when I was earning $4.00/hour, if I could find a job that would pay me $4.50 I would have jumped at it. Rightly or wrongly, I wanted to make all I can.

Many more of us have tried to get to step two, but we seem to have failed. A CBC news story this week spoke about the increasing debt that Canadians are incurring. According to the story more than half a million Canadians are more than 3 months behind on their credit payments. All together, Canadians have a combined national household debt of 1.3 trillion dollars. It doesn’t seem like we’re succeeding in the “save all you can” department.

With so much debt, it is no wonder that we are having an even harder time with the third step; “giving all we can”. We have bought ourselves into debt and can no longer afford to give. There is nothing to give.

How did we get here and perhaps more importantly, how can we get out?

Getting into debt is very easy. There are many opportunities to borrow money. There are increasing advertisements suggesting you should have whatever you want, whenever you want, and you don’t worry about it until 2012. We see others with something nice and we figure we should have it too. Furthermore, we figure, that as long as we’re doing our part in the offering, we can do whatever we want with the balance of our money. After all, it’s “ours”. We earned it.

The reality is we need a totally different understanding of money. We may have earned it, but it’s not “ours”. Yes, the pay check we get has our name on it. And the bank figures it belongs to us. But the Biblical perspective is quite different; it comes from God and belongs to God. We are the stewards of it. In other words, even though we give 10% to the church, the balance isn’t ours to do whatever we please. The balance also belongs to the Lord and we need to consult Him in it’s use.
Biblically God blesses people so that they can be a blessing to others. Yet, most of the time, when we get blessed (financially) we use it for ourselves. On the contrary, as John Wesley taught (and practiced) we earn and save all we can, not so we can “have it all” but so we can have more to give.

According to our church Manual, “The Church of the Nazarene believes that Jesus commanded His disciples to have a special relationship to the poor of the world; that Christ’s Church ought, first, to keep itself simple and free from an emphasis on wealth and extravagance and, second, to give itself to the care, feeding, clothing, and shelter of the poor. Throughout the Bible and in the life and example of Jesus, God identifies with and assists the poor, the oppressed, and those in society who cannot speak for themselves. In the same way, we, too, are called to identify with and to enter into solidarity with the poor and not simply to offer charity from positions of comfort” [Church of the Nazarene Manual, 903.4].

These are our roots; and good roots they are! They are taught in the Scriptures. As we prosper we must guard ourselves from drawing away from these roots.

The next time you get a bonus or some extra funds, instead of automatically thinking about how you can use that for yourself, take a moment and ask yourself is there is someone who you can bless with at least a portion of your blessing.