Identifying landmines on your way to your
≈ financial breakthrough ≈
Mat 24:45 "Who is a faithful, sensible servant, to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his household and feeding his family?
Today I want to paint are very clear picture of our financial state as Christians and as South Africans. The greatest challenge in our Christian walk is that of being able to be in be in charge of our lives. Management is the biggest responsibility of mankind. The first mandate of man in the garden was to manage God’s assets. The first test that man failed was a management test. God knew that if they passed the management test, they were going to make it through life. Sin came into the world as a result of man’s poor management of God’s assets. If you are a poor manager, behold, sin is knocking at your door! A mark of true servanthood is in your ability to manage what has been given to you.
More than 80 % of the parables of Jesus are about money. They were not about money per se, but about how to manage it. This is why the Bible says in 1Tim 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
We are currently faced with many challenges in our lives. For most of us, what we read in the Bible and what we practically experience in our lives are two diametrically opposed things. We live with the hope that things will get better, but in most cases, things are getting worse by the day. Our lives are filled with frustration, defeat, detours, potholes, delays and failures. We serve a sovereign God, but in many ways our destiny is in our own hands. As children of God, we should not find ourselves in a financial quagmire.
The decisions we make today – or don’t make – will shape our lives for years to come. A lack of adequate planning or a lack of good decisions will make all the difference. The fact of the matter is that most of us overspent our income and thus most of us live far above our income. We are financing lifestyles that are far beyond our ability to manage. Here are some hidden landmines on your way to your financial breakthrough.
Optimism
Most South Africans are optimistic about their financial future. Although such a mind-set can be a good thing, in most cases it leads to overspending and other financial problems. We assume that we’ll be making more money next year than we are now, so we buy a larger home, a more expensive car, and other countless luxuries and “necessities,” and much of which results in thousands of credit card debt or owing of thousands to micro lenders. What we need is more realism, not more positive thinking; more spiritual discernment, not more worldly philosophy. Optimism is good only if it is grounded in reality.
Wishes alone cannot be the foundation of financial breakthrough. It is not just the will to succeed that will take you to your desired destiny, but the plan that accompanies it.
Stress
The average family in South Africa today is stressed. One reason for all this is that we have extended our financial boundaries to the maximum, and some of us have gone beyond that. I believe that stress is a God-given warning signal. The minute you get stress is a time to look for the way out and not to plunge yourself into more trouble. Research has shown that 80 % of all diseases are linked to or aggravated by chronic stress. For example, if your bond payment is taking too much of your income and you never have enough money for food, clothes, and the kids, one option would be to sell your house and move to a cheaper one. You might look like a failure to many. But you must learn to make financial decisions based on God’s leadership and what is best for your family, not on what others might think or say about you.
Materialism
A lot of people are never satisfied with their current house, furniture, car or clothes. If I were to ask you if it is biblically wrong to murder someone or to commit adultery, you would say yes. But if I were to ask you if it sin to covet someone else’s property you would probably say that there is nothing wrong with that. Yet if you read the Bible, you will discover that coveting someone’s house is in the same list as lying, adultery and murder in the Ten Commandments. Materialism has destroyed many families. The spirit of competition has caused too many Christians to live far above their income. The world around us will always show you the need to buy things you don’t need. Our culture encourages us to think that if we want something, we need it. Most of us want to compare ourselves with our colleagues, neighbours or peers.
Debt
South Africans are accumulating more and more debt every year. Many of us buy things we cannot afford and in the long run become slaves of their excessive purchases and debt payments. If more than 50 % of your income is servicing debt, then something is wrong. Debt suffocates your income flow and adds a heavy load on your emotional wellbeing. If 50 % of your income is servicing debt, then it means you are living your life on 50 %.
Living in debt creates a false image about a person. Let me give you an example. When you buy new furniture people do not say, "Just look how nicely the Geen and Richards furnished his home". Oh! They tell you, "Oh, but your house is beautiful". In other words, your house is creating an image about you that is not truthful, because the only things that really belong to you are the things that are fully paid for. You don't believe me? Well, just give up paying your account at the end of the month and we'll see whose furniture it is! So debt really paints a false picture about you because the truth is that your house is empty; those goods do not belong to you.
The same principle applies to clothing. When, for example, you are all dressed up in a beautiful outfit bought on credit, people will not say, "Wow, did you see how beautiful Truworths made her?" Of course not! They say, "Have you seen how beautiful she dresses?" But in reality you are not so beautiful because the outfit does not even belong to you; it still belongs to the shop where you bought it! The point I want to make is that the goods you buy belong to you only when you have paid for them. If you buy it on credit you are living a lie!
Debt deceives you
In the business world they use the term "Credit worthiness". This is a lie from the pit of hell. We all know that the Bible says the devil is a liar and therefore he uses lies to deceive you. When people are credit worthy they feel very good about themselves. Can you remember how important you felt when they approved your credit application? As a matter of fact, didn't they reject your neighbour's application the other day? But you are credit worthy! Let me read to you what the Word of God says in Proverbs 22:7: "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender's slave". The Bible doesn't say that you are credit worthy; it says you are slave worthy. What gives me the right to say that? OK, let me ask you, on what grounds did they approve your credit application? Because you have lots of money in the bank? Of course not! You had to give them references of your other credit commitments. Now the definition of a reference is your history as a slave. If you do not have good references, they will not approve your credit application because you do not have a good history as a slave! What they are actually telling you when they approve your credit application is: "Sir/Madam, you were such a good slave elsewhere, we also would like to have you as our slave!"
The worst part of it all is that you actually have to apply to become a slave! Nobody makes you a slave. You fill out an application form and apply to become a slave. Just look at what Jesus says in John 10:10: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy". The whole world system is controlled by him and that's why so many families are destroyed because of debt. 1John 5:19 “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the power and control of the evil one.”
Marriage and Divorce
I understand that in South Africa, more than 50 % of all marriages end up in divorce. Why? In the majority of cases, financial problems are at least a contributing cause. Recently we read in the newspapers about a medical doctor who had drugged her children and set her house on fire. Why? Because she was in debt! Debt brings unhappiness, moodiness, sickness and depression into your home. If you are married and looking for a way out, don’t look at this exit. The billboards and all the signs may look promising, but once you turn off, you will find that the many signs you were reading were not true. You will soon discover that your problems do not disappear when you get divorced; instead you take their problems with you.
Savings
We are a nation that is saving less and less each year. We are a society built on consumption. The statistics tell us only less than 20 % of South Africans save their money. Most of us live beyond our means. If you do not have surplus after spending your income, you are a potential candidate of loan sharks. Did you know that if you take a loan with most micro lenders and banks, you can end up paying more than twice what you owe them? It is very much amazing that we have the will to pay back our loans, but we do not have the same will to save and to invest our hard earned income. What we are going to learn over the coming weeks is that if we are able to pay back our loans, then we also have the ability to save.
Giving
Most South Africans are not givers. Let me come closer. Most Christians are not givers. We are pretty stingy when it comes to charitable giving. If you study the book of Matthew 6, you will discover that the cornerstone of that chapter was giving alms to the poor, praying and fasting, in that order. All these three things are various forms of giving. Giving is sharing what God has given you as a sign of worship to God. Praying is giving your time to the Lord to release the will of God in the world. Fasting is giving your body to the Lord to destroy the spirit of selfishness. Selfishness is a lonely road. Those who travel it only see many attractive signs that lead to cul-de-sacs and cliff edges.
Until we learn how to give, we will remain free slaves.
In the coming weeks we are going to learn about how to service our debts, how to save and how to invest, how to be good stewards and how to make more money and how to give generously. A free believer will always give rise to a free church.