SUNDAY SERMON - In last Sunday’s commentary about Christians and financial stability, it was observed that God wants us to be financially stable for the good of our families and society. But again, physical and economic realities do not change even for Christians. So like everyone else, we must strive to manage our financial resources so that we come out of financial predicaments and debts. There are steps one can employ the Christian way to come out of a debt even when all other ways have proved impossible. These include among others, recognising that one is in a hole; creating new truths and the belief that change occurs when it is effected by the person in debt. Recognize that you are in a hole. As the saying goes, so you should stop digging any further. If bills are piling up such that you can not save anything and you are consuming future income to meet current expenditure, your situation is no better. Continuing along the way will make you sink deeper into a financial abyss. So take a decision to stop and seek financial advice from Christian experts. Face your fears and create new truths. Do not succumb to the fear that all is lost. Acknowledge your situation and seek ways of working yourself out of the situation. Many people would go into a denial and defend their situation by blaming someone else, or the economy, their neighbours, and, sometimes the government. They fear to face the reality because they would be taken for failures. Debts do not come like floods. Debts come from one’s definite lifestyle. You are too proud to acknowledge that your income sources can only allow you to live in a certain part of the city; in a certain type of housing; with certain makes of furniture; and eat only certain types of foods. This is the most difficult situation because coming out of this situation will require that you do radical changes to your lifestyle. Realize that nothing will change unless you change it yourself. Whatever needs to be done must be done by you alone. Your financial recovery and success is your responsibility. Do not leave it to your employer, or to some get-rich-scheme. It is only you who can steer your money in the direction you would like it to go. Many people have fallen prey to money-doubling conmen, or to some fantastic investment opportunities. You are in charge of your recovery process, so do not let the desperate situation end in another disaster. Understand that your expenditure will rise in proportion to your income. When you receive some additional income, it will naturally trigger more expenditure. It is important that you spend less than your income. The best solution is to develop a consistent spending level that should not rise with more income, but is flexible enough to fall as your income falls. Saving is a habit and a developed discipline. Just like you get into the habit of taking strong drugs like caffeine on a regular basis, you will soon graduate into taking some very hard drugs which are detrimental to your health. You should start saving small amounts in the beginning and soon you will develop the habit and discipline. You cannot control what you do not know. If you do not know where your money is going every month, then your chances of managing it are close to zero. You must use a spending plan to track your expenditures and redirect them to useful areas. Take time to record where you spend on a daily basis for one full month. This will help you to cut out areas which are not necessary, or those which are wasteful. Have a reason for saving. Are you happy with the way emergencies crop in every time? Are you saving enough to take care of your future? What about if you were to lose your job? The best advice is that you should build enough savings to take care of six months expenditures. When you are not clear why you are saving at all, then you are likely to use up all your savings in petty expenditures which could have waited. Consistency is the way. However much your income is, you can not build personal wealth if you do not consistently save part of your income. A person who earns less than you but saves 10% of his income consistently will be wealthier. A person, who runs a kiosk and has a monthly net income of Frw200.000 and saves Frw20.000 per month, will be wealthier than a person who earns Frw500.000, but does not save anything. Procrastination doesn’t work. Do not wait for circumstances to change, or think that the situation will improve before you begin to save some money. Time is your greatest ally, the sooner you start to get out of the debt the better. I pray that God will bless your plans to move out of debts. You better start today. E-mail:redplan20002001@yahoo.com
