“But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves.” (James 1:22) In this scripture, James was sharing the most critical piece of following Christ – living out what we have learned.
It is possible to absorb every single verse from the Word of God, but it is only what we take and by action… do in our lives that will result in experiencing The Life that Christ spoke about in John 14:6. It is by this action that His Word changes from words on a page to making it yours personally because you know it works in your life from experiencing it.
This transformation flows the same way in first believing and then taking action towards becoming debt-free. You likely agree it is best to be rid of all your debts, and if you’ve been reading Financial Fitness, you have knowledge on how to proceed. However, it is only by making wise choices and by doing will actual progress be realized.
A deep and interesting quote from Fulton Sheen goes “If you do not live what you believe, you will end up believing what you live.” We need to consider this in the context of the Spirit of God and our flesh. If we are not living according to the Spirit, we will believe what our flesh desires instead to be the truth. Read Galatians 5:16, where Paul reinforces this concept.
If we do not live what we believe in the area of finances – to become free of debt, we will end up believing what we live – to remain in debt.
Even to settle that you will take a modest step, perhaps by deciding to reduce your trips to the coffee shop, restaurant, or the mall for shopping (we all know what our areas of excess spending are), can make that difference financially and most importantly build momentum that you can gain control in this area.
Lastly, if we have a time that we cave in and spend money needlessly beyond what we should have, we should not fret and chuck the whole thing, but come right back on track. God is always encouraging us to return to the battle, “For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again…” (Proverbs 24:16)
God bless you and may He show Himself greatly to you,
Paul
