The 4 Essentials While Traveling the Road to Financial Freedom

We believe there are four essentials that you need to establish as you begin to travel the road to financial freedom.  The four essentials are:  (1)  establish financial objectives, (2)  develop a budget, (3)  save for an emergency fund, and (4) track your spending.

The first essential is to consider your financial objectives.  Financial objectives are your target, what you are aiming for.  They can be broad and long term such as having no mortgage in ten years or establishing college savings for your new baby.  Your financial objectives can be specific and short term such as paying off a credit card in six months.  Your financial objectives can be anything  that charts your course to financial freedom.  They set your path and give you direction.  Without objectives, you have nowhere to go.  Prayerfully consider what they are and approach them with knowledge about your current situation.  Our personal financial objectives include getting out of debt in 3 years, completing our Imagine 2 commitment with strength, tithe every year off of our gross income, save as much as we can for our daughter's college education, and save for a 50% downpayment on a new house.

What are some of your financial objectives?

It's Essential: Give Back

I know, it sounds odd doesn’t it? It goes against everything our society teaches. It doesn’t even make sense mathematically. Still, the truth is, you aren’t going to make any money until you give some of it away.

“Since you excel in so many ways…excel also in this gracious act of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:7 (NLT)

Let’s start at the beginning. Some time ago, you were nothing. And then we were born. The Bible says you were crafted in your mother’s womb, and God knew you there. He knows the number of hairs on your head, and he gives us each certain gifts and abilities. Your abilities are to help others, and to help yourself. With them you’ll earn a living. He has given this to you. You may have heard that God asks for some of your earnings back. That’s not exactly true. He isn’t asking. He’s telling you.

I often tell my daughter to do things she doesn’t want to do. She doesn’t see the benefit to her, it interferes with what she wants to do in that moment, or it is just no fun whatsoever. But if you’re a parent like me, you know that we often tell our kids to do things for “their own good”. We’ve been there before. We see a bigger picture than our kids can. It is the same with God and us, only we’re the children.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

What God wants of us, through the act of giving, is to establish a lifestyle of generosity. It’s hard to be anxious about anything if you realize it isn’t yours to begin with. Are you free of anxiety when it comes to your finances? Freedom from anxiety is characterized by three inner attitudes.  What we have we received as a gift. What we have is to be cared for by God. What we have is available to others.

If you really want to be free financially, start with tithing. Tithing is ten percent of your income. Less than that is not tithing, it is, quite frankly, disobedience to the God who made you and gives you everything you have. Second, develop a habit of giving things away. To put it simply, de-accumulate.  If you are becoming attached to some possession, consider giving it to someone who needs it. What I’m referring to here is an addiction. Learn to tell the difference between a real or psychological need and an addiction.

He is the potter and you are the clay, to be crafted and molded into the person he has designed. Being molded hurts. It’s painful. Sometimes it takes a long time. But everything beautiful and worth having has gone through this shaping process. Be willing, it will go faster and will probably be less painful.

~Kevin