Money is a powerful force…
it can be used for much good and it can be a force for evil. It can help its owner or it can harm. The pursuit of money and the power and influence it wields has caused countless problems in lives throughout history. And yet, it can be quite the blessing from God. It has the ability to gain control over one’s life—if it is allowed to take over. Think for a moment about a couple of ways money might gain control over one’s life
ON THE ONE HAND…
Indebtedness is sometimes the result of medical crises, loss of income due to job loss or death of a primary wage earner. However, oftentimes in today’s society, indebtedness is the result of an unbridled desire for more, bigger, and better. Patrick Morley, author of The Man in the Mirror wrote, “Today, we are consumed with the desire to buys things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like.” Often we are persuaded to buy that ‘deal that’s too good to pass up’ when in reality we should stop and ‘think’ before we tack on more debt.
Proverbs 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
ON THE OTHER HAND …
Sometimes the problem is not being enslaved to the monthly credit card bill. Rather, individuals in this scenario have ample income to cover their payments—and then some! The problem is in the desire to accumulate more and more and more to the exclusion of God. The ‘Almighty Dollar’ becomes the heart’s love and desire instead of The ‘Almighty God’. The pursuit of new money and new things leads to one’s often unintended decision to serve Mammon. A strong desire for money is an unrelenting taskmaster. It will drive you to work for it, stretch for it, do things for it you would never have thought of doing before. And then, when one’s life and health is ruined because money was priority number one, the poor soul will go to the grave without even a penny to take with him.
Proverbs 1:19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;It takes away the life of its owners.
Proverbs 23:4-5 Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
I Timothy 6:9-10 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
COURTESY OF BANKRATE.COM
What is the true cost of paying only the minimum?
Example 1:
Credit card balance: $5,000
Interest rate: 18%
MONTHLY MINIMUM PERCENTAGE: 2.5% of outstanding balance ($125/month one—and declines as your outstanding balance declines)
If you cut up the card today and charge nothing else, but determine to pay it off by paying the monthly minimum, it would take 313 months (a little over 26 years and $7,115 in interest charges later) to pay it off. However, if instead of paying the issuer’s calculated monthly minimum each month, one instead paid a fixed amount of $200 monthly, you could have the card paid off in 32 months (under 3 years and with only $1,313 in interest charges)
Example 2:
Credit card balance: $10,000
Interest rate: 18%
MONTHLY MINIMUM PERCENTAGE: 3% of outstanding balance ($300/month one)
If you cut up this card today and charge nothing else, but determine to pay it off by paying the monthly minimum it would take 272 months (a little over 22.5 years and $9,798 in interest charges later) to pay it off. However, if instead of paying the issuer’s calculated monthly minimum each month, one instead paid a fixed amount of $500 monthly, you could have the card paid off in 24 months (2 years and with only $1,978 in interest charges).
Question, “Is that 50% off deal really a bargain when you end up paying twice as much for the item (in interest charges) Remember, the choice is yours. We will give an account of how we have handled our lives while here on this earth. Based on the master you have served, what will be your eternal destiny? Now is the time for us to choose our master, to choose this day, whom we will serve. Joshua 24:15
