YIELD: Pause. Assess. Proceed. Produce.

Myth: You need a good credit score to thrive financially. Myth: You can’t rent a car or reserve a hotel room without a credit card. Myth: You can’t go to college without student loans. Myth: You need your credit cards to earn rewards. Myth: You need a credit card for unexpected emergencies. Myth: You must use debt for business start up and ongoing expenses. Myth: There’s no way to get a new car without going into debt.

I can be a good steward, but my faith is not in stewardship. We should tithe, but our faith is not in the act of tithing. Our faith rests in God.  I can put forth tremendous effort, but my faith is not in my effort.  My faith is in the God who established these practices for our benefit.  Our trust must remain in him solely, for His blessings toward us greatly exceed our investments of stewardship, tithing, and effort.  How can we then elevate works as the reason we may prosper?  We cannot.  God is the one who both propels and anchors us.  What do some of our forefathers say about how God sustains?  I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread (Psalm 37:25).  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phillipians 4:19).

How have you been approaching God lately? With OBEDIENCE or with SACRIFICE? “God required animal sacrifices as a way for His people to temporarily atone for their sins and draw nearer to Him.” ~ christianity.com -Obedience is better than sacrifice. -Obedience is faith-based. Sacrifice is works-based. -Both can be necessary in some ways, however, one is greater. -Obedience is based on an intimate and mutually loving relationship between you and God. -Sacrifice can be given in a distant or non-existent relationship between you and God. -Obedience is proactive. Sacrifice is reactive. -Obedience points to Jesus Christ. Sacrifice points to the law. -Obedience is our response to the gospel. Sacrifice was a response to sin before the gospel. -Some have only engaged with God using the method of sacrifice and NOT obedience. -Obedience is God saying, “Join me in this. Walk with me.” Then we respond with, “Okay, let’s go!” Sacrifice is us pleading, “Let me make it up to you. Let me pay you back. ...

On April 15th, 2013 our family made our final  debt payment which happened to be my  undergraduate student loan. On that day we  began a beautiful journey living debt free.   Listen to me share my excitement in My Video Blog 12 Hours Before We Became Debt Free .   Click here to see Our Family Debt Free Scream video created a few months after we paid all of  our debt. We’ve enjoyed moving forward financially and building wealth for our family rather than paying financial tribute to the past.  For us it started in college. We stumbled upon Dave Ramsey’s radio program on our local Christian radio station and heard call after call from people who were trapped and restrained by their debt and their financial decisions.  As two single college kids who happened to be friends we were individually sold on following Dave’s principles before we ever earned a dime. We realized that starting off our marriage with a conservative risk averse finan...