A little while back I was telling the pastor of my new church that I had been debt free for the past 4 years and he looked at me and said, “What does that feel like?”  I couldn’t quite put it into words except to say “Uhhh...great??  Yeah...great.” although that doesn’t quite describe the feeling that I feel when I think about my financial freedom and what that means for me, my family (current and future) and my ability to give back.   Another friend of mine who has been struggling with the whole concept of tithing recently told me that she felt that she should start tithing partly because she felt that she knew I did and that she saw God opening doors for me career-wise in a way that she felt doors hadn’t opened for her.  I told her that I didn’t know if there was a one-to-one correlation really.  There may be.  I don’t know for sure.  All I know is I figured I would just not question God on that one and now it’s not really a big thing to me.  I think I got that concept before I actually got completely out of debt, but I am still challenged in that area from time to time with supplemental income and every time I release my hold on money I get it back tenfold – whether it is just in the peace of knowing I am being obedient to God or if it is in blessings that come my way that I find rather ironic coming after I have given back to what I know is God’s work.

Financial freedom is twofold for me.  It’s not just being out of debt, but being out of debt so I can give back to other people freely without any kind of worry about how my bills are going to be taken care of.  I can buy all of the things I need and many of the things I want and it’s stinkin’ awesome!  I can sow into dreams for my life that I feel God has placed in my heart as well as the dreams and lives of other people – friends and strangers.  I like stuff just as much as the next person, but there is nothing quite as rewarding as being able to anonymously give money away and possibly change the course of someone’s life forever just by my contribution.  Individuals are changed and they go and help make changes in other places because now through my little contribution they’re able to do certain things, pursue God’s purpose for their life….which could be to change a nation or several nations!  You just never know.

Now I want to tell everybody and help everybody get to this place.  I want friends and family of mine to really and truly get that concept of sacrificing now to save for later so that you can be free to pursue your God given talents and give back to other people.  When we’re all tied up with stuff – especially stuff we still owe money on, it holds us back in a way.  The bible says that “the borrower is slave to the lender” and it is sooooo true.  You can’t go too far when you owe somebody money.  It’s always a chain around your ankle.  But when you get rid of it….wow.   I think so many of us are used to it – we’ve bought into the lie that says you have to have this or that.  I know I did, but then I realized that I could wait for some stuff.  It wasn’t going to kill me.  And God would honor that.

My encouragement to the kids in high school about to go to college is look for scholarships, go to school in your hometown – a degree is a degree.  It really doesn’t matter.   Get a job (or two) in college and pay your way through it so you don’t come out of school saddled with school loans.  And for those that didn’t have that advice and now they’re out of college and have tons of loans to pay off….get to paying those suckers off --- now!  Pay those things off as soon as you possibly can.  Don’t get a brand new car.  Buy a used beater with cash and pay those things off.  A little sacrifice now will mean a huge payoff in just a few years.  So when you meet that special someone you’re not coming into a marriage saddled with a bunch of debt and craziness.

Overall, I’ve learned that I don’t have to have everything right this second.  When I see people with fancy stuff, nice cars, houses, clothes, etc…I’m reminded that probably 75% of the time, they’re in debt up to their earballs and for the others, it took time to build that.  So I’m gonna be patient.  I’m going to take my time and be a good manager of the money God has entrusted to me so I can continue to have enough to take care of myself like a real live grownup and be able to help advance the kingdom.

Submitted by: Candice A. Smith, Lay Leader, One Church International