Living Debt Free - Our Continuing Story

We are moving towards our 2nd year of living debt free and I have to say that this is the life we want to continue living.  Not only are the chains and/or burdens of debt gone, but the feeling of them gone and the freedom to purchase as we have means available makes life much more enjoyable.  We no longer give in to impulses but rather think them through according to what we can afford, not what we could afford if we borrow the money off of someone else; credit.  The scripture is very true:

Proverbs 22:7
".....the borrower is servant to the lender."

Truly, you are a servant or slave to those you borrow from and with that comes the burden, the chains and the stress of paying them back to be 'free' again.  The problem isn't that there may be a time you would need to do that for an emergency, the problem is when you live that way purposely.

1 Timothy 6:6-10
"But godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

There are no downsides to living debt free because you learn contentment through what God blesses you with in your life.  You don't borrow from the world's system of "got-to-have-it-now" because you know what that leads to - stress, marital problems, discontentment and a multitude of other burdens that will eventually steal your joy.  Living debt free is the tool that can instill peace, contentment, financial freedom and joy into your life and your family.  Our marriage was only ever in turmoil when we were in debt.  Now that the chains have been broken off that bound us, we are freely enjoying life together in a commitment to not sacrifice our joy for a dollar bill or what we can have.

The scripture above speaks of those that covet after money, or those that will be rich - in other words, those that "got-to-have-it."  Having a credit card and/or credit gives way to that sort of lifestyle, but with it, comes temptation, snares and MANY sorrows!  You can be rich without debt and still right with God, however, these scriptures speak of the others that seek to be rich in the wrong ways and with the wrong motives.  Leaving out God and His Word for your financial decisions will only dig your hole a bit deeper and your way a lot rougher in life.  It just isn't worth it!!

I like what Clarke said in his commentary on the above scripture:

It requires but little of this world’s goods to satisfy a man who feels himself to be a citizen of another country, and knows that this is not his rest.

To those that don't have their minds fixed on this world and all its dainties, they are satisfied with little.  I know I have a mansion coming one day, so I'm not going to sacrifice my joy or my family to try and get one in this world that God didn't give us the means to afford.  I've learned to be content in the home that God did provide for us for the time being, even though it may be a mobile home, it is a HAPPY home!  I truly do love this place and though I may wish for a fancy house, I would rather not trade what we have now for the snares that that fancy house may entrap us in.

God brought us on this journey a few years ago when we were drowning in debt of our own making and then on top of that, we had the unfortunate event of hospitalization without insurance, which was in reality another problem of our own making.  For, had we had insurance, we wouldn't have added to the burden we were already under.  We didn't take the easy way out, we didn't take charity that is reserved for those that truly need it, no - we knew we made this bed and we had to lie in it.  We paid off those debts over years and we didn't repeat the same mistakes, we rather chose to do a 180 and go the opposite way - living debt free and insuring our health, life and worldly possessions.  Looking ahead and preparing for the future, rather than being unwise and only caring for the present.

If you never learn the lesson in the financial department and change your ways, you will only continue on the hamster wheel as yet another crisis will soon bring you back to where you didn't win the battle.  The key is to win the battle and change!  Then, and only then, can you have true financial peace that comes with God and contentment.
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