John Cline
Pastor Rick Warren, the recently retired Senior Pastor of Saddleback Church, that enormous and tremendously-successful church centered in Orange County, California, writes a daily blog (Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope) which I subscribe to. In a recent blog, Rick Warren had this brief message: ‘You probably already know this intuitively, but God makes it clear in the Bible: Debt is not a good thing. Yet many people find themselves drowning in debt. Moving forward, they would be willing to pay as they go if they could just finish paying for where they’ve been. That’s what God wants for you too. He wants you to repay what you owe so he can bless you in your finances. But working your way out of debt isn’t easy. First you have to commit to do it, and then you need to make a plan for it. Imagine where you could be in a year if you took diligent steps to be free of debt. Then resolve to take those steps every day, relying on God’s wisdom and grace to do the hard thing.’
I want to second that word of encouragement and encourage you to avoid debt. The ’40 Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life’ book that we have been sending out via email and posting online, one day at a time since August 1st, furthermore gives advice and ideas on how to budget and avoid debt. May the Lord bless you as you endeavour to do so.
