In Hebrews 11 it speaks of the faith of Moses and how he preferred the hardships of following God, saying "For he looked forward and away to the reward." In the area of overcoming debt, have you been looking at your bills and figures or looking forward to your reward?
The photo above is muted on purpose, so you can picture yourself there. It is from my wife Karen and I making final payment on our mortgage in 1999. Can you see yourself there? It may seem like quite the leap of faith. Two of the requirements are to first see yourself in that position and second to take the steps paying off your smaller bills which will allow you to be able to retire your mortgage.
Nothing has ever been accomplished great or small, without first birthing the completion of it in one's mind. Every Olympic medal athlete, doctor, published writer or championship team (like the Broncos) had to first see the vision of their goal. Even for simple tasks - you had to first envision in your mind that you see the church website before turning your computer/device on and clicking to arrive here.
The importance of vision is proclaimed in Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision the people perish." The root word perish in this verse does not mean dying, it refers to loosen and to go back. You know how true it is that if you do not "keep in mind" to do certain things that you will instead allow it to go undone. It is no different here... first envision yourself becoming a debt-free household.
Determine which of your bills has the smallest total balance. Now focus on paying that smallest bill down to zero while paying only the minimum amount required towards the other bills. Next, go after the smallest bill that remains and pay that down to zero while still paying the minimum towards the others (You're paying the same total amount but towards fewer bills). Continuing in this way you gain additional leverage each time because you've freed up more money as each bill is retired.
You will also experience the strength of knowing you have fewer bills to deal with than before. It's a lot like lifting weights, a person does not immediately go after lifting 500 pounds, instead they train and build up gradually gaining strength towards their goal. Continue working through your bills until only the mortgage remains. Once you've reached that stage you should be able to make double or triple payments and will see it erased in 3-5 years typically.
Lastly, consider the example of Jesus envisioning the future, for which we benefited so greatly and for all eternity. "For the joy that was set before him endured the cross." (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus was not focused on his suffering, he was seeing the joy before him knowing how many of us would be saved and his sitting at the right side of God's throne. I encourage you to focus on the joy set before you... it can be done.
God Bless you and may He show Himself greatly to you,
Paul
