Stop Doing The Old Things
If you would like to enjoy God’s debt-free guarantee (which is life without debt), there are some basic things you are going to have to stop doing.
First, you will have to stop impulse buying.
That’s right. It may take a two-signature checking account so that your spouse or financial counselor can help you decide if the thing you are about to purchase is really necessary.
In addition to that, you should have a readily available list of qualifications an item must meet before you purchase it.
You will also have to give up credit cards (unless you pay the balances in full each month). I like to refer to this process as “plastic surgery.” You will have to take the scissors to your credit cards and do some surgery on them.
You must immediately close any open charge accounts (these accounts exist primarily in smaller towns where the local hardware store or gas station allows trusted customers to just sign for their purchases).
Immediately remove any and all easy-purchase, no money down, pay-later systems that may have attached themselves to you before you decided to become debt free.
Make it a hard and fast rule to pay for whatever you purchase as soon as you receive the goods or services. No more lay-away plans either.
I understand these might be considered drastic measures, but as rough as it may seem, it is best if you just go cold turkey and stop spending for anything except the necessities of life.
Please take note that the Bible does not teach a no-luxury lifestyle. However, if it is your heart’s desire to get out of debt, it will call for a new resolve on your part. You will have to go through a season of belt-tightening while you are paying off deficit spending of the past.
Keep in mind that people who succeed in living in God’s debt-free guarantee have made a decision to stop going into debt. They have made up their minds that they are getting out of debt. They concentrate on using every spare cent they can get their hands on to pay off their existing bills. They become fanatically committed to not going any further into debt.
Speak The Debt-Free Language
Another aspect of truly overcoming debt is to start speaking as if you really are going to get out of debt. Let me illustrate.
Many years ago I met a man named Ike Gabbert. He was a Cumberland Presbyterian preacher who lived in the outback of Kentucky. When I say outback I mean really primitive, rural Kentucky. Each afternoon, I would visit with him on his front porch, and he would teach me wonderful truths about God from his old, worn Bible.
During those front-porch sessions, neighbors would often stop by. Each time the old preacher would see a neighbor approaching, he would make the same statement. I can still hear him as he would say, “Here comes a person who says he is going to heaven. Let’s see if he has anything to say about heaven.”
After several of these visits I asked, “Why do you always make the same statement about your neighbors?” Pastor Gabbert looked at me and said, “John, I have found that people will always talk about the place they are going.”
What a wonderful truth that old circuit-riding preacher dropped into my spirit! It is powerful because it is a Bible truth. Please see if the following verse doesn’t say almost the same thing:
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say to this mountain be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believes that those things he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
(Mark 11:23)
So, purpose today to become debt-free. It is God’s plan for you. Live the debt-free lifestyle and speak as if it has already happened. You’ll be out from under the mountain of debt in no time.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
John Avanzini was born in Surinam, South America in 1936. He preaches the message of financial prosperity and teaches that God wants believers to be wealthy. He speaks in conferences and seminars worldwide about biblical economics.