Personal Finance

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Psalm 1:3

First of all, let me assure you that the idea behind today’s article has little or nothing to do with anyone I have talked with in the past weeks or months. It was prompted long before any of you were late with a payment or found yourself in financial difficulty. I have been mulling this for a year now. CFC families are great but are still typical of any large representation in that they struggle periodically with the things that most people struggle with. Finance is just one of them.

We all have experienced lean times at some point in our lives. A whole world of reasons can put someone in that squeeze. Some are unavoidable. The bad news/good news, however, is that many situations are avoidable with proper planning and discipline. I may have lost some of you already at the mere mention of those words, “planning” and “discipline.” For those of you still with me, I will get that other nasty word out on the table right away as well: “budget.” Okay, that is about as painful as we are going to get. The rest is not near as shocking or dreadful.

We discovered the joy and freedom of budgeting quite a few years ago. Yes, there is a bright side to this discussion. The average person lives with a bogeyman in their closet. He is red with horns, has an awful grimace, and will steal everything not nailed down in a heartbeat if he gets out of the closet. His name is “Shortfall.” Every time the car breaks down unexpectedly, a doctor bill comes crashing in by surprise, or the heat pump dies, old “Shortfall” awakens with a vengeance, breaks into the room and raises pure havoc. When times are good, folks still live in the fear of old “Shortfall” and even small pleasures such as dinner and a movie can be laden with guilt and fear of our old nemesis. “What happens if tomorrow should bring a startling and sudden need for this $35 we are spending on our night out?” Anyone who has lived from paycheck to paycheck knows the fear of sudden reversals. It stalks even the purchasing of clothes or new shoes for the kids. The ever present question is, “Can we afford this?” to which there are no answers.

Budgeters, on the other hand, have a pretty good idea how to answer that question and keep “Shortfall” safely contained. They realistically and thoroughly know their income and expenses and have made a commitment to live within their means. It is always amazing how many folks with six figure incomes do not know either of these nor have they made that commitment. And old “Shortfall” continues to make their life miserable. Most of us, however, are instead tempted by the old excuse, “we don’t make enough money to be able to budget.” Whoever the folks are that feel that way are exactly the folks who have the most to gain by learning to budget. It was a wonderful feeling for us to know at Christmas time that we had $300 to spend because we had saved it and that all our other obligations were covered. Guilt free shopping. How much better does it get?

My prayer for all of us is that we will be that tree of blessing that prospers even in the midst of drought. I pray each family will have three months living expenses in the bank. I pray we will be able to give generously to the Kingdom out of our carefully husbanded resources and to our brother’s need. I pray we will be known as people who pay their bills on time and in full as a witness to God’s work in our lives. To learn how to do this, I urge you to consider attending a course in Financial Freedom. Taking even some simple steps towards financial freedom can change your life.