What Should Be My Financial Priority?Shembull

Pursue Freedom

Many Christians are concerned about paying down debt. The wisest thing to do financially, however, is to avoid debt altogether. If we have it, we need to pay it off. However, it is better not to get into debt in the first place. Debt paralyzes us financially and prevents us from accomplishing many things that we want to accomplish for God’s Kingdom. Debt hinders us from doing the Lord’s work and enjoying the life He wants us to enjoy.

Our giving to the Kingdom and other financial priorities are affected by our poor decisions in the past. First, we need to acknowledge such mistakes. Bad financial choices are not unforgivable. We need to go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to forgive us for the mistakes we have made with money. We can pray this prayer, “Father, forgive me that I have not trusted you well in some areas of my life in the past. I tried to supply for myself. I went into debt trying to get the things that I wanted. Maybe the things I wanted were not good, or I got them in the wrong way. Forgive me and help me to trust you fully with the desires of my heart.” We can repent of our wrongdoings. Then we can make better financial decisions. 

To make the best choices for the future, we should pursue financial freedom. If we know that acquiring an item will cause us to go into serious debt, we should either wait and save for this item or find a cheaper alternative. We should pray before making any major purchases to check if we have God’s peace for it. We should also consult with our spouse if we are married or seek wise godly counsel if we are single. 

Pursuing financial freedom from debt is another way to honor the Lord with our finances. Staying free from debt gives us greater freedom in serving God’s Kingdom. We can obey Him with our giving any time He lays it on our heart to bless the church or another individual. In this way, we submit our wants and desires to Him. We also trust His will and timing for our life. Exercising temperance in our financial choices, we declare that Jesus is not only our Savior but also the Lord of everything we have, including our material possessions.