As a parent to three energetic children (7, 4 & 2) I have quickly discovered that my new favorite word has become NO! No don’t touch that, no you can’t have ice-cream for breakfast, no you can’t shoot the cat with your Nerf gun, and no we will not watch the Curious George movie again. To be quite frank viewing that movie 100 times is more than enough for me thank you very much. I have also discovered that apparently as my children get older the lists of no’s just seems to keep growing. Which, when considering the fact that my youngest still has another 16-17 years at home before leaving the nest leaves me a little concerned?
Upon giving it some thought, the only other time I can remember using the word no as much as I do now was over several years ago when I was deeply in debt (for the second time, but that story I’ll save for another post). When true financial needs arose at my church or among my family or friends because my resources were devoted to paying off debt I frequently had to say no. If a friend was struggling to put food on the table, my response was sorry can’t help you. If my church needed additional funds to send a missionary overseas I was forced to shrug my shoulders and look the other way. My debt quickly became bondage as I was unable to say yes to the people, organizations and causes that meant the most to me. All of them had to be put on hold.
For the first time I saw at my furniture, golf clubs, and lavish vacations (all financed on credit) for what they really were, “Yes Blockers”. Where God had wanted me to be the financial yes in someone’s life my wasteful spending and debt could only respond no. I became a living example of the warning provided in Proverbs 22:7 (NASB) “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave”. I became a servant of Visa and MasterCard instead of God and a large percentage of the financial resources he had entrusted to me was going to creditors.
Maybe you’re in a similar situation yourself and I know firsthand how hard it is to see loved ones struggle and not be able to offer any financial assistance. However I want to offer you a bit of encouragement and ask that you use those times when you have had to say no to motivate you to get out of debt so you can start saying yes. There is a great sense of joy when you are able to say yes. Also you’re ability to respond yes to needs when others are unable too is a powerful testimony for God. Take this example from my own life. I have been debt free now (except my home and some student loans) for a few years. As a result of not having a lot of debt payments I have been able put a decent amount of money away in savings. Earlier this year I was able to give $4,500 away to a family member and $1,200 to a close friend who were in serious need. My family member even commented a few months later that if it had not been for my generosity they may have lost their home or worse. Just like it feels great when I can say yes to my childrens requests it felt good to be able to finally say yes after so many years of saying no.
So what are you waiting for! It’s your turn. Time to get out of debt and turn those no’s into yes’s. Who knows I might even say yes to watching Curious George another 100 times. Why you ask, because I have gotten use to saying yes to things that are most important to me and I hope you do to.
Now that you have heard my two cents what’s your take? How has being in debt or being debt free affected your ability to say yes? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Article submitted by Efrem Jackson – Founder, Free to Serve Financial Ministries