The key to financial freedom is simple. A graduate degree in finance is nice but the key is something else altogether. The Total Money Makeover has helped thousands of families but it is not the key to financial freedom. Taking a course on proper investing techniques would be awesome but without THE KEY any gains could be eventually forfeited.
The key to financial freedom is patience. Patience is the quality that does not give up when things get challenging and difficult. It’s the ability to stand tall with your shoulders back and your head held high when things are falling apart. Biblical patience is an unflinching attitude and demeanor.
Patience is neither sexy nor popular. It is the primary thing, however, that will get you through life’s most challenging financial predicaments.
Patience is misunderstood. It’s often treated with disdain.
The writer of Hebrews stated that faith and patience were needed to inherit promises (Hebrews 6:12). Sluggishness was contrasted with faith and patience in the epistle. Patience, in its proper context, is as tough as nails.
A Prosperous Soul
3 John 2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
Growing emotionally and financially requires a prosperous soul. Our soul is comprised of our mental faculties and thought processes. A prosperous soul requires time, effort, and patience.
The statistics surrounding lottery winners are disturbing.
Why? The souls of these lottery winners were not renewed.
Salary increases require soul work, too. Moving between salary ranges sounds awesome. In reality, it has its own set of problems. Adding a truckload of money to an unrenewed mind is a recipe for disaster.
It’s important for us to keep pressing forward irrespective of how slowly. Even if our progress is glacially slow we still must move ahead.
Financial freedom is not a walk in the park.
Financial Freedom — Don’t Quit
Quitting is easy. People quit jobs, marriages, sports teams, and financial messes all of the time. The problem with quitting is that you usually have to get in the back of the line.
Early in our marriage, we experienced financial frustration at every turn. Our net worth was negative. The debt snowball we were working on was filled with dozens of companies looking for their cut.
We had little to spare but remained diligent.
The total amount of our debt was taped to the refrigerator each month. That amount didn’t seem to change much from month to month — but it was changing. Little by little the snowball became more powerful and the debt was eradicated.
We haven’t had unsecured, consumer debt in many years. The pain and discomfort we lived through back then have made our current life much less stressful.
Patiently working the debt snowball is a savvy stewardship secret.
Here’s an article that I wrote about the debt crisis in America.
Financial Freedom — Don’t Despise Small Beginnings
Investments rarely skip seasons. Farmers must wait patiently during tough seasons. Some crops are planted in the spring and harvested in the summer or fall. Others, like fruit trees and grapevines, require a few years to bear fruit.
Financial investments are similar.
We began by investing 1% of my salary. Fortunately, my employer matched it so the amount immediately doubled. My salary was extremely small at the time but we began investing anyway.
In my first year of investing my total contribution was less than $300. My employer matched it so the total for that year was about $600.
We weren’t going to retire on less than $1,000. It was a single brick. A beginning if you will. The next year the amount increased and there were two bricks and some mortar. This process continued until a cornerstone was built. Eventually, an entire wall was created.
We often wanted to stop the contributions and use the money for other things. We didn’t though. God helped us to see the invisible. The fruit of the Spirit of patience developed deeper and stronger in us.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
YOLO and FOMO
There are thousands and thousands of YouTubers and social media influencers peddling get-rich-quick schemes. Paying the price for enduring financial freedom is an unpopular idea.
You only live once, pal! Why sacrifice today when I can enjoy today? We’re not promised tomorrow so we might as well live it up today, we’re told.
Why? Most people are living longer than ever. Memories will not pay the bills or feed a family in the future. More importantly, it’s terrible stewardship of God’s resources.
It’s not just the younger generations who are playing the YOLO card. I’ve witnessed Boomers living paycheck to paycheck and still refusing to not spend every penny.
“I’m old and I deserve to go out to eat whenever I want to,” they insist!
Proverbs 13:11 Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.
Life is not a sprint. It’s not even a marathon. Life is more like an ultra-Iron Man!
Allow patience to work inside of you and resist living moment by moment.
Financial Freedom — Count It All Joy
Biblical patience is developed in an uncomfortable manner. It will not be gained simply by reading a book or listening to a sermon.
James 1:2-4 (NKJV) My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
The end result of patience is Christian maturity and wholeness. Getting there, however, can be painful.
James encourages us to rethink these painful situations. Instead of crying, flip the script. Change your perspective on the problem.
Resist saying, “Why does this always happen to me?”
How about saying, “God, what can I learn in this situation? What are you teaching me?”
These opportunities are tests, according to James. Pass the test and move along to the next test or quiz in life. Yes, there will be many, many more.
Open Book Test And Do Overs
We’ve tried and failed in many financial situations over the years. It gets easier when good decisions are made.
We decided that we didn’t want to live a life enslaved by debt. Our debt snowball, on day one, had at least 25 creditors. Those creditors were eventually kicked to the curb and never replaced. That battle was not an overnight situation. It required daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly patience and discipline.
All of these financial tests are open-book tests. Stick your nose in the book of Proverbs every day. God has a ton to say about savvy stewardship.
Pray about your financial situation. Don’t allow uptight Christians to dissuade you from leaning heavily on God during these times of struggle.
Above all keep patience front and center. Don’t quit. Keep moving forward even if you’re slower than a snail.
Hebrews 10:35-36 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.