I remember the first
credit card I ever got. I was so happy and proud! To me, it
meant I was officially an adult and able to be trusted. It was so
shiny and I loved the way my name looked on it. It didn’t take me
long to break it in. Before long I was buying things
for my new college apartment and eating out at nice restaurants.
It was wonderful to just be able to pull out that little piece of plastic
and, “Boom!” it was paid for. I could handle it. The company wouldn’t
have approved me for it if I couldn’t handle it. I didn’t realize
that it wasn’t me but my age that qualified me.
Years passed, additional credit cards were
applied for and used. Things were adding up, but when I graduated
and got a “real job,” I could pay all of them off. Right now they
were helping me. After all, how could I afford life at Texas A&M
University without a credit card? I needed them. All adults
needed them.
My boyfriend also had credit cards.
He used them to help fill the gaps. In fact, when we decided to shop for
engagement rings, he first had to apply for a gold card in which to make
the purchase. We called it my ring card. After all, without
a credit card, how could a college student afford a diamond engagement
ring?
Graduation came for me but my real job was
that of a classroom teacher. There’s not a lot of extra in a teacher’s
paycheck and with my husband in a master’s program, we had more credit
card use. Newly married and a recent graduate, I wanted our first
home to be warm and special. Spending continued when after teaching
all day, I didn’t feel much like cooking. Eating out was something
I felt I deserved after my workday.
After completing his master’s degree, we
moved to Plano, TX where the cost of living was much higher. Credit
card use continued only this time tears came with each swipe of the card.
I couldn’t stand the bills anymore. I no longer felt
adult and free. In fact, I had not been an adult in using them; I
had been an undisciplined child. I felt tired, overburdened and out
of control. I had become a slave to this world and to debt; all things
that are contrary to Jesus’ plan for us.
At this point in my life I wanted to be a
mother. My life’s goal was to be a stay at home mother and raise
beautiful healthy children. Bu, we were barely able to make minimum
monthly payments; there was no way we could live on one salary. I
was under constant pressure and felt a heavy burden always on me.
Money came up so often with my husband and me and it caused many fights.
It was the first thing I thought about in the morning and the last thing
on my mind before I went to bed-debt reduction, debt consolidation, bankruptcy,
borrowing from family. I kept racking my brain, trying to come up
with a plan.
At the time, I was attending women’s Bible
study at my church. It was a wonderful study, and during a session
one night, while I was daydreaming about how to solve money problems, I
heard something that caught my attention. “Pray! Complete dependency
on God.” It was like a shot rang through my head. All this
time I had been carrying this burden. All this time I had been trying
to figure out the solution to the debt problem. I had never asked
God what He wanted me to do. I had forgotten that Jesus already carried
this burden for me.
As I was leaving church that night I asked
God, “What do you want me to do?” I clearly heard, “Cut up your credit
cards.” From that point on, there was no looking back. I knew
it was what we had to do. I went home and shared this with my husband.
He wasn’t so sure. He wanted to bargain for a lower interest rate
with the credit card companies. “No, we have to get rid of them altogether.”
That next day I began making the calls. You wouldn’t believe the
things I was offered and the way I was sweet-talked. “But, Mrs. Stein,
you’re such a good customer.” Yes, I know that was the problem!
The last credit card company I called was
that from which I received my first credit card. It was the hardest
call, both for me and for the people at the other end! They offered
me everything but the kitchen sink. When I said that last, “No,”
I could feel a weight being lifted off me. A freedom I hadn’t felt
in years! Getting rid of our credit cards was our first step of obedience
and our first step to financial peace and freedom.
Since that time, we have repented for our
past misuse of funds and for our overindulgent attitudes. God has
been so good in continuing to provide for us each month. There was
a time when we couldn’t live month to month without the credit cards.
Now we are doing it and then some. Praise God! Several months
ago He gave me this special word from Matthew. “Your
heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all
you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the Kingdom of God
your primary concern.”
Two months later, a ‘Financial Peace’ class
was offered at church. My husband and I sat in the front row!
This class was the next step in God’s financial plan for us. In this
class we learned many valuable lessons about money and the use of credit
cards. A friend in the class shared this, “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 know what God wants
you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will
really is.” (Romans 12:2-3)
This is not the end of the story. We
still have debt to pay off. We still have hurdles to face.
However, one thing I am sure of is God’s unfailing love and provision.
For Jesus says, “You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings.
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” That
truth is the hope my husband and I look to today. For we cannot erase
our mistakes, but Jesus can. We look to Him, because through Him,
we will be free.
Jennifer
