Wednesday, September 17, 2008

"Debt"

"And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
Luke 12:15

This morning I am going to address something that a lot of ministers steer away from because it's become a "sacred cow" in Christendom. But it really bothers me to hear ministers make such claims as their ability to "release you from the spirit of debt", and if you send to their ministry all your debt will be cancelled, if you follow their three steps to wealth and riches you'll have more money than you'll know what to do with, or if you'll sow into their program you will never have to worry about debt again, there will never be any lack in your pocket book.

Before I proceed any further let me say that I know there are circumstances beyond our control- loss of job, death of a spouse, illness, etc.- that can put us in dire straights where our finances are concerned and can cause our bills to pile up. This is not what I am addressing. I believe that it's time we know the truth about this subject because it's the truth that sets us free and doesn't give us a false hope.

Let me start by saying that there is no "spirit of debt". You will not find it in the scriptures, but what you will find is greed, covetousness, discontent and disobedience. These are the roots of debt. No one can supernaturally cancel debt for you- unless they intend to pay it off. There is no "magic wand" or "special anointing" to get rid of your debt. As long as you keep getting the credit cards and making loans, if you stop giving tithes and offerings, as long as you are undisciplined in your spending, as long as you keep wanting to purchase beyond your means, as long as you are discontent with what you have, as long as you continue to covet what everyone else has and do whatever you have to do to get it... you are still going to be in debt. I don't care how many prayer lines you stand in, how many request you send in, how many hands you have laid on you, how many bottles of oil poured on you, how many "faith packets" are sent to you nothing is going to get you out of debt until you follow true Biblical guidelines and deny yourself.

Sure God can supernaturally send you the resources to pay it off, but if you don't discipline yourself you'll be right back in it. The best way to get out of debt is to never get in it in the first place.

Have a great day. We need to take responsibility for our own over spending and stop looking for "quick fixes" to get us out.

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