I attend a church that has a heavy focus on the financial literacy of its members and getting them out of debt. It’s biblical. Getting out of debt helps better position people to be in service to God. Without the burden of debt, you can do more for God with the provision he has given you.
It’s not just about the money, either. Sure, freeing up your money gives you more opportunity to be generous and to practice the biblical principles of tithing and cheerful giving. But, being debt free also gives you the peace of mind to focus on God’s true purpose for your life. Ideally, it decreases your stress level making you more mature in spiritual fruit. You spend less time chasing money to pay debts and more time chasing God.
Debt can have miserable affects on your life. Despite the passing of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act of 1977, debt collectors will often use illegal and deceptive practice to scare you into repayment. A popular tactic is for companies to buy old debt and seek restitution after the statute of limitations has expired.
Stay with me…this is Shine TYC and you know we will eventually get to Jesus. The statute of limitations, (SOL) is the time period in which a lender can pursue legal action against you for a debt. Various states have different time frames for the SOL. The time limits on debt collection not only exist in the United States but they also exist in the Kingdom of God.
The statute of limitations on your sin and failings expired on Golgotha during the first century AD. Your debt to sin is paid in full by Jesus. It is finished. However, like many deceptive collectors today, your past wants to still charge you with a debt that is far passed its statute of limitations. Once you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the bad decisions, pain, and despair of your past cannot be used against you. Don’t fall for it.
In my state, the clock for the statute of limitations restarts if you contact the collector to acknowledge that you owe the debt after the SOL expires. We do the same thing with the pain and disappointment in our lives. We give the past power to collect on a debt that Jesus already paid in full and the SOL has been expired for over 2000 years. Your past is collecting sadness, distrust, fear, anxiety, and other destructive emotions from a debt that has already been paid.
So, you have to start handling your thoughts and feelings about your past the way you should legally handle old debt under the FDCPA. Ignore the painful intrusion into your heart. Take those recurring thoughts and return to sender. Tell those painful memories to cease and desist. Let Jesus be your counselor and let the Word of God stand as a FDCPA against your past. You owe your past nothing but gratitude for the lessons learned.