A wise man once said, “When your outgo exceeds your income, it leads to your downfall.” For many businesses and Christian organizations, as well as families and individuals, this saying has unfortunately become all too true.

A number of years ago when I was in the position of “having more month than money” I began to seek the Lord for how He wanted His people to handle their finances.

Over the next few years I learned a great deal about God’s biblical principles of financial management.  As I applied what I learned, the Lord showed me how to me how I could climb out of the financial hole I had been in. He also led me to begin to teach and counsel with others who were having similar problems.

Later I joined the staff of a Christian organization.  I was given the responsibility of the ministry’s finances, or I should say, lack thereof.  We had just come to the end of our peak income season and we found ourselves owing approximately 70 different creditors tens of thousands of dollars.  We only had a few dollars in the bank and several months before our income would pick up again.  The board of directors hoped that the biblical principles I had taught to help get individuals out of financial trouble could also be applied to an organization's finances.

In the coming months we discovered that the steps God uses to get an individual out of financial trouble can also lead an organization to climb out of the “debt pit”.   

We immediately made a new commitment to operate only on a cash basis (or 30-day invoice basis if we KNEW the money would be there).  Within two years, we finished paying off the tens of thousands of dollars of behind bills we started with. 

In the remainder of this article I will identify things that will lead to financial trouble.  I will also highlights godly steps that can be taken to help someone find God’s pathway to financial freedom.

Things that lead to the debt pit and indicators that you are in financial bondage

·         Little or no daily time with the Lord in His Word because of apparent time demands or ministry pressures.

·         No regular and systematic plan for giving or being generous with what the Lord has given to you.

·         Ignorance of what the Scriptures really teach in regards to our handling of finances and material possessions.

·         Loss of a major source of income.

·         Unusually high price increases for basic necessities, such as, utilities, insurance, food.

·         Unexpected major expenses including back taxes, lawsuits, major breakdowns, medical problems.

·         Hasty and/or impulsive purchases.

·         Expenditures made while a primary person or persons weren’t yet in agreement with the decision to go ahead.

·         Charging things you know you don’t really have the funds to cover.

·         No primary person who is responsible for and is diligent in keeping track of your financial commitments and cash flow (purchases, expenses, and income).

·         No plan for laying aside or separating out funds that will be needed for coming obligations (insurances, taxes, loan payments).

·         Using monies that were given or intended for one thing for something else.

·         A number of people having the freedom to buy or charge without first getting approval from the person who is to keep tracking of the current and projected cash flow.

·         Confusion or disagreement on how financial decisions are made.

·         Financial decisions made out of “how much do we have in the checkbook?” instead of budget planning and realistic projections.

·         A subtle and deceiving attitude whereby you have more confidence in what credit can provide for you than what Christ can provide for you.

·         Making “pleasure purchases” you really couldn’t afford (i.e. - “I want, what I want, when I want it” purchases that you made when you didn’t want to be confused with the facts about your financial situation).

·         Too busy, or unwilling to personally pray (and/or ask for the board and/or staff) to specifically pray about pending needs and financial decisions.

·         Use of consolidation loans.

·         Charging or spending money for special projects or purchases in the hopes of a special gift or source of income that you are “hoping” will be coming soon.

·         Distracted times in the God’s word because of thoughts about financial matters.

·         Avoiding or forgetting about faithfully giving a portion of what the Lord has given you because of a shortage of funds.

·         Creditor collection notices and calls because of unpaid bills that are 30, 60, 90, 120 or more days old.

·         Having no one who is taking active responsibility for developing and implementing a 12-month realistic multi-faceted plan for raising gift income.

·         Frequent disagreements and arguments over money matters and trying to blame others for the mess you are in.

·         Having to charge things because you don’t have the available funds to pay the bill in cash.

·         Unexpected emergencies arise and there is no money to meet the need.

·         Bounced checks.

·         Paying some angry creditor a chunk of money while leaving a group of quieter creditors unpaid.

·         Projects started that are now left undone.

·         Thoughts that more money, from a big gift or a consolidation loan, would solve your problems.

Some things that will only make matters worse

·         Additional charging, loans, consolidation loan(s), bankruptcy, and/or lawsuits.

·         Ignoring creditor letters and calls.

·         Depression, denial, blame, anger, quitting, suicide.

·         Expansion plans or major purchases that will require additional loans or charging because of a lack of funds.

·         Get-rich-quick schemes or additional part-time work or income projects that you know in your heart will negatively effect your relationship with God, spouse, family, ministry, or normal work responsibilities.

Specific steps God often uses to lead people, businesses and organizations to financial freedom

·         The need for you to acknowledge afresh your dependence upon Him and confess that you and others may have had wrong attitudes and actions that have gone contrary to His ways.

·         Seeking out biblical teaching on financial matters.

·         A commitment to no more additional charging or loans.  If you don’t charge or borrow anymore, you will begin to crawl out of the hole that you are in.

·         Gaining godly counsel and/or help from the authorities in your life to see you through to financial freedom.

·         Finding out exactly who you owe.  Tally up all your creditors bills and loans.

·         Thoroughly study and analyze your financial records to discover how, when and where your funds have been spent during the last few years.

·         Develop a 3-6 month working budget.  This needs to be a “bare-bones-red-alert-no-frills-skeleton monthly spending plan” that you will carefully follow and monitor.  

·         Contact all creditors stating that there will be no more charging whatsoever.  Anything you buy from this point forward will be paid for in cash.  Inform them that you will begin a monthly payment program, usually an equal percentage each month to each creditor, until your old bill is completely paid off.  (Note: If you are purchasing everything in cash and being faithful with a monthly payment, most creditors are willing to work with you because they know that eventually you will pay them back).

·         Realize that you didn’t get into these troubles overnight and that you won’t get out of them overnight.  On the average it will likely take 12-18 months before you will be able to pay off all your current debts.

·         Develop and implement an improved and more diligent budget and record budget keeping system that one primary person has the responsibility to oversee.

·         Stop or table all non-crucial programs, expenditures, or plans that don’t directly add to the primary work or survival of your organization or family.

·         “Deaccumulate” or sell possessions and assets that you no longer are using, that are beyond your ability to maintain, and/or that can be sold to generate additional cash.

·         Have specific times of prayer when things look impossible and you don’t see how you can make it though another day.

·         Give further attention and diligence given to developing increased sources of ministry and legitimate income.

·         Get creative.  Whenever an apparent financial need surfaces, determine a minimum of two, preferably three, price quotes and/or solutions on how to solve this specific need.

·         Put together a realistic 12-month multi-faceted fundraising plan that will be implemented and carefully monitored.  Include plans for a segmented mail appeal, getting designated funding for key projects, and the development of Giving Club programs where people can commit to giving various levels annually, quarterly or monthly to your ministry.

·         Do NOT move ahead on any new financial expenditure until the primary people involved are in agreement.

·         Send all creditors something every single month, even if you can only give each one of them 1-5 percent of their total bill.  From my experience, any creditor would rather get something from you, no matter how small each month, than to not hear from you.

·         Develop a realistic annual, quarterly and monthly working budget that you actually use, follow, and keep updated.

It’s my hope that some of the things shared in this article will provide some light at the end of the dark financial tunnel that some people may find themselves in.

Author’s note: For individuals in need of financial guidance or godly financial counsel, contact Larry Burkett’s nationwide ministry, Crown Financial Ministries (1-800-722-1976 or www.crown.org).

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