Better Than I Deserve

A few years ago I had decided to quit my job. It was a fine job in many ways. It was flexible. The pay was good. But something I hadn't expected began to happen. As Thursday became Friday I would become more upbeat and begin to enjoy things. As Saturday became Sunday I sounded more like Droopy the Dog than myself. My goal was to get to the weekend. Every year I achieved my goal 52 times. But it never lasted. This wore on me and my family. I was dissatisfied. So after some thought, discussion with my wife, and lots of prayer, I gave six months notice. In June of that year, I was done. No job. And it felt great. At first.

I had a plan. I wasn't going to sit around and do nothing, of course. Over time things started to undermine my plan though, and I began to wander aimlessly from day to day. Six months in I started missing my goals to have some things done.  My confidence began to fall apart and I didn't know how to get it back. I was failing. This may sound conceited, but this was new to me. In the realm of tasks and the "doing of stuff," I had never failed before. Why was this different?Then it hit me. I had defined myself by my job, my accomplishments, by what I could do, and I didn't know how to live apart from that. Who was I? I would spend the next several months figuring that out. 

It had been eight months since I had an income and Alesha's business was a sporadic income generator at best. So I needed to make some money. Through some friends I got connected with a small business owner who needed some help. But it wasn't what I had in mind. I had managed multi-year, multi-million dollar projects that were responsible for accounting for billions of dollars annually. I had spent four years in college and had a double major in business and computer science and a minor in economics. I had led multi-national teams. And yet there I was, picking up trash in a parking lot, watching the sun come up. Painting someone else's house, feeling the breeze on my face. Shoveling mulch, laughing with people I barely knew. I started helping Alesha with her business. I put a roof on a house and set up a bookkeeping system for a friend. I spent time with my daughter and sought counsel from those who were in front of me spiritually. We figured out how to live on 25% of what I had been making. We even took a vacation, the first in eight years. Eventually, slowly, I got back into the swing of a regular job and haven't looked back. 

There are lots of things I still can't explain or haven't figured out yet, but I'm taking the time to work on it. Getting ahead is no longer the ultimate goal, being known is. I want my wife to know me, and vice versa. I want my daughter to know me, and vice versa. Most importantly I want to know Jesus better because in the end I'll know me better.

I was more intent on improving my financial situation and accumulating bigger and better "stuff" than on improving my relationships. I'm all for, and promote, sound financial practices. But it's not the be-all end-all. When we come to the end of our days, the only thing we'll be interested in is our relationships, not our stuff. Why wait till then to regret what you didn't do when you can do something about it now?

Move up the ladder? Sure. Grow your portfolio and become wealthy? All for it. But not at the expense of what's really important. How are your priorities?

-Kevin

What is Financial Freedom?

Why do we want to live in financial freedom?  It is a way of life that God always intended for us!  He did not intend for us to be slaves to our money but He knew that money would hinder us.  That is why Jesus talked about money so much.  Money and finances has the second-most scriptures in the Bible.  The topic that has the most – salvation.  Achieving financial freedom can impact and unleash so much in your life and in the spiritual world.  For you, it will reduce the amount of anxiety in your life and provide you with greater freedom to love.  In the spiritual world, more people achieving financial freedom can result in more people giving their lives to Jesus.

So, what is financial freedom?  In order to get to the definition of financial freedom, let’s first look at financial bondage.  In Matthew 6:24, Jesus states, “No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money.”  Jesus gets pretty specific in that last statement.  We cannot serve two masters; we can not serve God AND money.  Also, God will not share His throne and He will allow us to pick money over Him.

Financial bondage can manifest in a variety of ways.  You may experience it as living paycheck to paycheck, accumulation of debt, or having an “I must have it now!” mentality.  An important step to take is identifying what underlying sin keeps you in financial bondage.  Examples are entitlement (I deserve…), pride (I can take care of myself…), comparison (I love what that person has…), discontentment (To feel good in life I must have Jesus and…), faithlessness (I know Jesus will provide but I need to know that now…), envy, addiction, and the list could go on.  Prayerfully consider what underlying sin that you may be experiencing that is keeping you in financial bondage.  If God prompts you, confess that sin to God and ask for forgiveness, confess it to a trusted adult, and begin the recovery process.

Now that we have looked at financial bondage, let’s begin to define financial freedom.  I believe we can experience financial freedom as the people of the first church experienced it.  In Acts 4:32 we read, “All the believers were one in heart and mind.  No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”  They lived as though what they owned was not their own!  They understood that everything they had was entrusted to them by God.  God created everything and owns everything.  We are merely trustees of what God owns.  Trustees have no rights, only responsibilities.  The primary responsibility is to take care of what has been entrusted to him or her.  The point is that financial freedom has nothing to do with how much money you make or how much debt you have.  It is about living with the understanding that God entrusts His limitless resources to us.  As each of us experience financial freedom, God’s kingdom will be resourced with more and more allowing us to reach more and more people. 

In order to get from bondage to freedom you must go through transformation.  You must submit to God’s transformational work in your life.  Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  You will receive lots of information, but the information is only good if you allow transformation to happen.  We must break away from this world and begin pursuing a God-honoring lifestyle.  We must become weird… not normal… an alien.  In John 15 Jesus tells His disciples that they are not of this world.  As followers of Christ, we truly are aliens of this world.  Do not conform to this world’s standards, but to a life that is God-honoring and of freedom.

~Alesha

Defining Financial Freedom

Kevin and I know that God has called us to lead more people into financial freedom.  The objective of this blog is to provide stories, resources, and information for more people to begin to experience financial freedom.  But what is financial freedom?

Some people may define financial freedom as no longer being in debt.  Others may define financial freedom as earning a certain income.  Still others may define financial freedom as no longer living paycheck to paycheck.  All of these are great indications that you desire to live in financial freedom and will provide a more personal definition of what financial freedom means to you.  For our purposes here, we're going to use scripture to help us define financial freedom.

We were not designed to live in financial bondage.  God did not place us on this earth and bless us with giftings and talents to work hard in order to be selfish with our money.  He made us stewards of His unlimited resources and entrusts us with all that we have.  However, He knew that we would fall to sin and find ourselves in financial bondage.  This is one of the reasons why Jesus focused much of His teaching on money and finances.  In Matthew 6:24 (MSG) Jesus defines financial bondage for us.  He says,  "You can't worship two gods at once.  Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other.  Adoration of one feeds contempts for the other.  You can't worship God and Money both." We cannot serve 2 masters!  Jesus said it and I believe it. It’s impossible to serve 2 masters.  We will get confused and chaos will happen.  And…  God will not share His throne.  If we chose to be a slave to money, He will allow us to pick that path.  Financial bondage is allowing money to take the place of God in our lives.  It becomes the center of our universe.  Money becomes an idol and when we live to serve it, we are in financial bondage.

Now that we have a definition of financial bondage, let's look at a picture of financial freedom.  The people of the first church experienced financial freedom.  Acts 4:32 (NLT) states “All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.”  They lived as if what they owned was not their own!  Isn’t that amazing?  Everything that we have does not belong to us but is entrusted to us from God.  He provides us with all that we have and all that we need.  God created everything and He owns everything.  We are trustees.  A trustee has no rights, only responsibilities – the responsibility to care for what belongs to someone else. 

Reaching financial freedom requires an understanding that we own nothing but care for all that God has given us.  We are stewards.  We are not entitled and we don't deserve anything.  Can you imagine what our world would look like if everyone lived as if what they owned was not their own?  Those of you who have taken the courageous step to start the journey towards financial freedom can start the ripple effect that can change the world.

~Alesha

Financial Freedom Requires Transformation

We are planning a beach vacation for this summer and I cannot wait.  Seven days on a semi-private beach with my fantastic family, great friends, and free time.  It will be amazing.  I do have to admit there is one thing that I am NOT looking forward to...  wearing a bathing suit.  Yep, the thought of wearing a bathing suit makes me cringe.  Don't get me wrong, I know that I am not overweight and I do not have self-image issues.  However, I do realize that I have some lumpiness in some places that are just not attractive.  I would be quite content with hanging on the beach in shorts and a tank top, but to put on a bathing suit...  no thank you.

The question to ask is, "What am I going to do about it?"  To simply realize that I am not comfortable in a bathing suit because of the extra lumpiness is not enough.  I can choose to wear a bathing suit and just deal with the lumpiness while on vacation, but doing so changes nothing.  I know that those lumpy places can begin to go away if I eat well (which I am on the track of doing) and if I begin to exercise more.  It also requires that I put a plan in place, change some things, and transform my thinking.

The same is true for our financial lives.  Once you recognize that you are in financial bondage, you must begin to take steps to get out of it.  Simply recognizing where you are will do nothing.  If you want things to change, you must begin changing things.  Put a plan in place -- begin using a budget.  Begin to change your approach to spending -- stop using the credit card.  Begin transforming your mind by looking at your money differently.  The Bible tells us that if we are going to live in a God-honoring manner, we must move away from this world and allow our minds to be renewed.  Romans 12:2 (New Living Translation) states, "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

Transformation is an active choice.  It requires more than just trying to "do better."  It requires an agreement and an allowance for God to do substantial work in your life.  It requires an admission that the way you have been doing things was wrong and a submission to allow God to do a transforming work in you.  Transformation is not an easy road.  It could be short or it could be long.  Along the way you'll continually have to choose whether or not to quit or to endure.  But the road of transformation will get you to your destination -- financial freedom.

I am going to develop a plan to be in better shape before our vacation this summer.  If you want to hold me accountable to that, I may accept your offer.  However, you have to agree to be accountable to the transforming work that needs to happen in your financial life.  You can do it.  I can do it. We can travel the road of transformation together.

~Alesha