Getting Out of Financial Debt

Message Summary:

In today’s message in our series, Kingdom Economics, Pastor John Carter taught us how to bust out of financial chaos with a plan. If we are not careful, we can find ourselves in financial bondage. But God has commanded us to yada yada yada, to diligently know the state of our flocks. This is the first step to determining your starting reality when getting your finances in order. To create order from chaos, you need to diligently and honestly assess where you are financially. This is where we begin. Once we have the information we need, we can construct a plan that will bring change.

This leads to the second principle which is developing a financial plan. We must focus intently on one thing at a time to develop a financial plan. We have to address each area and create action steps. Not just little actions or baby steps, but radical actions. We must identify the debt traps in our lives, the places where have gotten into the habit of borrowing for what we want now in exchange for years of paying back what we owe…and more. Debt encumbers your future. All done in the motivation to get now what I cannot afford, so I will garnish my future earnings to satisfy my flesh now. When we feel the pressure of debt, it is because we have promised so much of our future away to bondage. So, we never feel financial freedom because we are bound to our debt.

Every payment that you erase is a raise. When you deal with debt, you are positioning yourself to experience more financial freedom. You unencumber your future earnings. God dreams for us to be out of the debt traps holding us back. God wants us to be loaners and not borrowers. And he will help us to get there, one released debt at a time. If we partner together with God and if we are willing to take radical action, we can experience a level of financial freedom that will position us for God’s abundant life.

Scriptures:

• [Read Luke 14:28-32 NKJV] 28 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-- 29 "lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see [it] begin to mock him, 30 "saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 "Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 "Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

• [Proverbs 21:5 NKJV] 5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

• [Proverbs 22:7 NKJV] 7 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.

Discussion Questions:

1. What happens if we do not diligently know the state of our finances?

2. What is a debt trap, and how does it keep us in bondage?

3. What is the first step to experiencing financial freedom?

4. How do we deal with debt?

5. What does it mean to be a lender and not a borrower?

Life Application:

Over the next week, as you study the key scriptures, ask yourself the following question: “Are you encumbering your future with debt? Are you garnishing your future earnings to satisfy your flesh now?” God does not want you to go through life in bondage to debt traps. Create a financial plan to get out of debt by following these steps:

1. Commit to a season of radical action.

2. Remove all unnecessary expenses.

3. Build an emergency fund for rainy days.

4. Attack your debt (smallest to largest, or highest interest rates first).

5. Sell everything you don’t need.

6. Negotiate your debts.

7. Pursue additional income.