Debt & Giving - Part 1

At the start of this year my student loan debt was at $36,105. It was around $41,000 in 2007 when I graduated from graduate school. I have been paying steadily since then and have over a little less than 3 years whittled it down by $5,664 by paying extra every month and making additional payments when we had the extra money available. This is my only debt as we paid off all of our other debts within the first year of marriage. This debt, which is pretty large, doesn’t seem like it is ever going to be paid off if we continue to make small monthly payments where the vast majority of the payment goes towards interest. Since I began making payments in 2007, $9,199 has gone towards interest alone. Not cool! When you have unpaid debt you are not financially free because some portion of your income has to go towards that debt. If your finances are not free then you are not free. We want to be free! We want our finances to be free, because right now our debt is telling us where our money has to go and we want to be able to tell our money where we want it to go.

Awhile back, Ronnie and I read a book together call The Treasure Principle written by Randy Alcorn. The book was revealing to us in that it highlighted our need to turn our finances over to God. It makes sense that you would trust God with your finances seeing as how your money comes from God in the first place. Really does one “good” thing not come from God? Does God not provide us with absolutely every good thing that is in our lives? My job – God. Our money – God. Our abilities – God-given. Our home and automobile and clothes and food and air and water and happiness – All God. There isn’t one good thing that comes from some place other than God, the creator of everything. You could say that you work at your job and because of your hard work your employer pays you a salary. That would be true, but God blessed you with the abilities you possess to be qualified for that job, and He blessed you with the clothes you where to work, and the transportation you use to get there, and the mental capacity to excel at your job, and the organs inside your body that continue to work properly so you can keep on living so you can go to your job everyday, and did He not create you? And your boss? And your coworkers? And the very materials that were used to build your place of employment? What then can we say does not come from God since He was the one who created us and this world and the universe we live in? We are only stewards of this earth and everything on it. God owns it and as owner of us and the earth He should be the boss and us the servants (or managers/stewards) of His property.

So really when you think about it, turning our finances over to God seems like a pretty safe bet since we know that He created everything good in this world and is infinitely more wise. We can also be sure that we can trust Him because has there ever been a time in which God did not follow through? What about a time where God went back on His word or broke a promise? Has there ever been a time where God did not have our best interests at heart? I didn’t say “has there ever been a time where God didn’t serve your interests.” God not doing what you want Him to do and God not looking out for your best interests, are not synonymous. Many times God does the opposite of what you’d like Him to do, but that is only because He really does love us and by giving us everything we ever wanted He would actually be harming us and that would not be very loving on His part. He said “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Sounds like a pretty good promise to me! So you see, God created everything good including money and He always keeps His promises; and as the creator, should we not obey His commands? What about when He asks us to give back a portion of our income as an offering to Him? I think we should. This portion (a tenth) of our first paycheck that we set aside and give to the Lord is called a tithe, and any amount you give over the ten percent is considered an offering. God wants us to give a portion of our money back to Him so He can bless us and others through our giving. God wants more than anything to bless us! He doesn’t need our money – it all belongs to Him already. He is not “served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything.” However, through our giving we are merely acting in obedience, and through our obedience and our generosity we please God. We give from our “first” and not from our “last” because God deserves our very best and not our leftovers. Who are we to be stingy with the money God freely gives to us. Have we ever done anything to deserve the many blessings (money included) that we frequently receive? I feel very grateful that I don’t get what I deserve, because what I actually deserve is far worse than what I think I deserve. A verse in Romans (11:35-36) says “who has ever given to God that God should repay him? For everything comes from him, everything happens through him, and everything ends up in him.” If everything we have was freely given, should we not continue to freely give back a portion of that what was given to us? God wants us to give because through giving we break the hold that money has on our lives. Giving overcomes greed, and produces joy and allows God to bless us. Giving allows you to bless someone else. You can know what kind of hold money has on your life by watching where you spend your money. Where your money goes there your heart is also.