Financial debt is crushing families. It ties them to the past and keeps them from moving forward. It keeps them from having the kind of life they would like to have. It stops them from doing things for their neighbors, their church, their community.
The good news is that families can get rid of their debt. Here are four simple steps.
Step one is to face reality. Know how much you owe. You can’t cure a disease without an accurate, precise diagnosis. Often people don’t know how much they owe, aside from, “a lot.” Why don’t they know how much they owe? Sometimes it is because they don’t want to know. Their lack of knowledge allows them to avoid amending their spending habits. Sometimes it is because it feels they are so deep in the hole they could never dig out, which leads to the second step.
Step two is to value the power of small steps. When you work your way out of debt, the first steps you take are going to be small steps. At first they don’t seem to make much of a difference. Over time, however, the effect will snowball. Don’t be overwhelmed by the amount of your debt. Trust the power of small steps.
Step three is to take control of your life by making a budget. When you are in debt, it feels as if your life is out of control. The budget is the way to take back control. Write down everything, all your income, all your expenses, all you owe. Work towards this plan: the first ten percent you give back to God. The second ten percent you put into savings. The third ten percent you use to pay down debt. Then you live on seventy percent of your income. The key point is to have the budget, for that is how you will take control of your life.
The fourth step is more of an attitude than a strategy. Think long term. Ours is a long term faith. Climbing out of debt is a long term climb. Don’t think so much about what we want right now. Think about where we want to be, and who we want to be, sometime in the future. Think long term.
In our sermon this Sunday we will look at how families can get free from the burden of financial debt with these debt busters.