Sir:Well, that�s really the life of a family whose bread-winner is a teacher. Remember that a regular teacher will receive a salary of only more or less PhP10,000.00 per month. And this salary will be released monthly. So, if you are not so good in budgeting, I think you�ll really have the hard time managing your money.
I agree with you that professional teachers live in debt and mostly die in debt. �
� Like you, I grow up with my parents who are both professional teachers and are connected with the Department of Education. We usually owe our daily needs in a suki-store with a condition that we will pay those owed goods with the checks that my parents will receive monthly. But I noticed that the 2 checks that both worth more or less PhP10,000.00 (more or less PhP20,000.00 in total) are not enough to pay our debt. �.
With regards to this, I want to share an article written by Brother Richard J. Rodas, �Owe No Man Anything�, which was published at the �PASUGO- God�s Message Magazine� dated May 2000, Volume 52, Number 5.
Important Note: I want to send you a copy of this Magazine but I just couldn�t do it because your number is huge enough and I have only 1 copy of this issue. So I decided to copy it completely.
I haven�t asked permission from the management of the PASUGO-God�s Message Magazine or from the Iglesia Ni Cristo, but I will still post it here for you to learn lessons from it. It�s a good article and the thoughts are based on the teachingsof the Holy Bible. If ever I will receive any complaints from the concern, I will immediately remove this article from this post. Contact me here.
— Pasugo article starts here —
A good indicator of one�s moral, social, and spiritual values is the way he handles money. People who do not know how to handle their money properly will surely be burdened by financial problems and fall into debt. Debt almost always puts people under stress that can bring about physical illness, anxiety, discouragement, and even loss of friends.
Bankers, financial counselors, and even psychiatrists offer competing ideas on how to allocate one�s resources, but the best guidelines are biblical. The Bible offers people efficient and optimum plans so that their multi-varied needs could be sufficiently satisfied and they can be brought closer to God.
�Owe no man anything�
Some people are envious of those who have more. They even resent God because they feel they are not as fortunate as others, so they resort to borrowing money in order to have the things they want, plunging themselves into debt. Apostle Paul gives us instructions concerning this:
�Keep out of debt and owe no man anything except to love one another for he who loves his neighbor � who practices loving others � has fulfilled the law (relating to one�s fellowmen), meeting all its requirement.� (Rom. 13:8, Amplified Bible)
Apostle Paul admonishes everyone to �keep out of debt.� Debt ruins a person�s peace of mind by placing him under the burden of paying back institutions, individuals, or department stores.
Co-Signing
Promising to pay for someone else�s debt is another serious mistake. King Solomon teaches what could possibly go wrong:
�Don�t promise to be responsible for someone else�s debts. If you should be unable to pay, they will take away even your bed.� (Prov. 22:26-27, Today�s English Version)
Don�t countersign a note or answer for someone else�s debt. Why risk everything you own. If you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.
It is always risky to act as surety to strangers or even to close friends. Your very own property can be held as collateral to guarantee payment. Indeed, it is better not to vouch for someone�s credit than to suffer later. King Solomon was correct when he declared that �Only someone with no sense would promise to be responsible for someone else�s debts� (Prov. 17:18, ibid.)
Have a financial Plan
So that one can keep away from incurring any debt, he should establish a way � either short term or long term � to properly manage his finances. He should set his priorities straight and begin by making a list of his income and expenses so as to get an accurate picture of his current financial situation. This is in line with biblical admonitions:
�Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough.� (Prov. 12:5, ibid)
Diligence truly pays off in the long run but more so if one plans carefully. Thus, it is good to develop a budget scheme or a spending plan in order to manage and effectively control expenses. Such a plan also lessens impulse-buying.
A prudent planner also takes into consideration and prepares for major changes in life such as starting college, changing jobs, prolonged sickness, moving to another city, retirement or death in the family. These can bring dire consequences to someone who is careless and unprepared.
In order for his plans to succeed, one must lead an orderly life and work hard in order to avoid debt and to break free from the bonds of poverty:
�We say this because we hear that there are some people among you who live lazy lives and who do nothing except meddle in other people�s business. In the nameof the Lord Jesus Christ we command these people and warn them to lead orderly lives and work to earn their own living. � (II Thess. 3:11-12, ibid.)
�Gather little by little�
The principles of sound money management dictates that people must realistically look at their resources and learn to live within their means. They should not waste time by idling their lives away, but instead save even little by little. A person who saves money little by little has something to look forward to during �rainy days.� In establishing a financial plan and having no debt, people should prioritize their needs. They must first satisfy their basic needs before their wants and desires which they can attend later when they have enough money to spend.
There is no doubt that satan, the archenemy of God�s righteousness, has often used financial pressure to drive people into debt in order to turn them away from God�s divine principles. Apostle Paul advises people who find themselves in such a quandary:
�And I am not saying this because I feel neglected, for I have learned to be satisfied with what I have. I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at anytime, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.� (Philip. 4:11-13, Ibid)
Apostle Paul learned the secret of contentment in every situation. He learned whether he had much or little, whether he had a full stomach or an empty one, to be satisfied with what he had. The secret is in deeply involving Jesus Christ in our life. Because of this, Apostle Paul declared that he had the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gave him. This power can make people overcome the envy that often causes friendships to disintegrate and pushes others to mortgage their property with the aim of �keeping up with the Joneses.� Apostle Paul states his wise counsel to people who posses such mentality:
�And because of God�s gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you.� (Rom. 12:3, Ibid)
People should learn to thank God for what they have instead of comparing themselves with others and lamenting when others have more. We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought or have an exaggerated opinion of our own importance. We should learn modesty.
Truly, there are many ways to waste money which we should avoid. Financial liabilities or indebtedness are often incurred not only because of �dire wants in life� but more so because of unwise financial decisions like impulse buying, co-signing for someone else�s commitment, laziness, wasted time, carelessness in spending money, falling into get-rich-quick schemes, credit buying, and lack of a coherent and sensible budget plan.
But if people would only learn to earnestly follow the laws of God and always do His will, they would not be gripped by debt, instead they would lead happy lives because God would guide them in all their decisions. King David declares:
�Happy are those whose lives are faultless, who live according to the law of the Lord, Happy are those who follow his commands, who obey him with all their heart. They never do wrong they walk in the Lord�s ways.� (Ps 119:1-3, Ibid.)
—-Pasugo article ends here—-
So, I hope you�ve learned a lot from this article written by Brother Richard J. Rodas.
Source: http://www.selaplana.com/2007/11/20/live-with-debt-die-in-debt/
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