When you actually make the decision that you want to be debt free, you’ve taken the most important first step in your journey toward debt freedom.
Now you have to do the work it takes to get yourself to that debt free destination.
Becoming debt free is certainly not a total cakewalk. But once you dedicate yourself to achieving that life changing goal, and really believe that you can do it, you start a wrestling match for control between yourself and your money that will ultimately determine your destiny going forward.
Becoming Debt Free- You vs. “The Debtinator”
Maybe you just got a vision of yourself as a professional wrestler, climbing into the ring in your colorful tights, ready to put the smackdown on your chief rival, “The Debtinator.”
It’s a no holds barred cage match.
Only one will get out alive!
“The Debtinator” comes out hard and fast, bouncing off the ropes, slamming you hard to the mat with a forearm to the throat. You’re stunned, but you won’t give up.
You are determined to overcome “The Debtinator.”
Ok, I see you have a very active imagination.
Actually, the wrestling match I had in mind is the wrestling match found in the Bible. Specifically, the match detailed in Genesis 32:22-31.
Jacob’s Struggle
Jacob has been cheated out of time and money for 20 years, and God has instructed him to leave his father in law’s land and return to the land of his own fathers, where he will enter into his destiny.
But before Jacob is to cross over into the land where his destiny lies, he must cross over the stream called Jabbok. Once he sent his family and possessions across, he remained behind for the night.
That night, a man appears and wrestles with Jacob all night long.
As the night goes on, Jacob gets the upper hand. Even though the man begs, Jacob will not let him go until the man blesses him. When the man finally gives Jacob his blessing, he tells Jacob that he will now be named Israel, because he has struggled and overcome.
And he was blessed.
At that moment Jacob realizes that it was God he was struggling with, and it was God that was sending him into the land of his fathers.
As “Israel” crosses the stream, the sun rises above him and he walks into his destiny.
The Struggle to Become Debt Free
Yes, I know there are many deeper details to this story. The main point I want to make is that any time you seek a blessing, a new direction, or a higher destiny, there will always be a struggle.
Whether you’re starting a new career, a business, a marriage, or even getting out of debt, you can be sure that at some point, difficulty and struggle will happen.
How you respond to that struggle determines whether you move forward in life, or you keep fighting the same old battles over and over. Those same battles that never allow you to move forward financially, relationally, spiritually, or in your career.
So if you have decided that you want to move into your debt free destiny, expect a struggle.
Don’t let go until you have overcome “The Debtinator,” and you will be blessed.
If you need help in the get out of debt wrestling match, you may want to check out my Celebrating Financial Freedom get out of debt course. It will help you overcome the debt struggle most all of us face at some point in our lives.
The course will be available soon in an online format. You can sign up here to receive emails on its progress and find out when it launches.
Have you had any struggles while trying to gain debt freedom?
Article originally published on Celebrating Financial Freedom. Used with permission.
Dr. Jason Cabler is a Christian personal finance blogger, author, and speaker. He teaches how to get out of debt and live a debt free lifestyle through his Celebrating Financial Freedom blog and self study course. His new book How to Budget:The Quick and Easy Guide to Making a Budget That Works is now available (more info here). He can be reached for interviews or speaking engagements by email, and can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.
Publication date: April 3, 2013