Up to this point in Proverbs, Solomon has guided us toward wisdom and away from adultery. Wisdom, he tells us, is more precious than the most precious items of any time and nothing is more desirable (3:14-15). Adultery is a fools errand that leads to death and destruction (chapters 5, 6, and 7). But here in chapter 6, Solomon begins to share practical wisdom. I find it interesting that the first 11 verses of the chapter are all about avoiding debt and poverty.
Money is a topic that causes problems. It is at the root of most fights (and lots of divorces) in Christian homes. As a nation, Americans aren’t necessarily doing that well with money, and it’s largely due to poor planning. One article pointed out that 40% of Americans don’t have enough savings to cover a $400 emergency. Another article found that most of us are below average in savings and that if we suffered sudden unemployment, we wouldn’t have enough in the bank to cover even 1 month’s worth of expenses. We live in the most in-debt country in human history, carrying over $18 trillion in debt (more than the next three countries on the list combined), and for the first time in history, Americans racked up a total of over $1 trillion dollars in credit card debt, with a record high average of $6,375 per household.
Dave Ramsey’s right: We’ve got some money problems, and Proverbs has the solution.
Part of how I know this is that I’ve been Dave Ramsey’s student for about 4 years now. I’ve been his student because I had some wrong ideas about money. I was nowhere near as concerned about savings as I should have been. I thought, “If Jesus walked this earth and only had a rock for a pillow, and if he taught that money is the root of all evil, and that a rich person will have a harder time entering heaven than a poor person, then money and savings doesn’t need to be a huge priority to me.” So I didn’t worry about saving.
I was spectacularly wrong.
Now some of you caught on quick that I was wrong. As soon as you read “he taught that money is the root of all evil” you were ready to scroll down and comment, “The Bible says the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, not money itself!” You’re right, and I know that, now. I didn’t say spectacularly wrong for no reason.
What I had missed was that the same inspired, inerrant Word of God that tells us that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil is the same Bible that gives us Proverbs 6:1-11 (and other verses like it) that help us to understand that staying away from debt, embracing hard work, and avoiding poverty are godly, wise behaviors for us to follow. And, the message is clear – if you are willing to commit to hard work and wise spending, you can enjoy a debt-free life moving away from poverty. People do it all the time. Just not many people in the United States.
Understanding this concept took a real “light bulb moment” for me, and that change in attitude, that paradigm shift, happened as I listened to and read materials specifically focused on financial management. Our credit card debt was way above average (frankly, I’m embarrassed to tell you how far above), but now it is way less than average and will be gone in the next couple months. And let me make this clear, it was massively my fault. Some of you have read or heard those stereotypical stories about women who go on shopping sprees and spend hundreds or thousands of dollars buying clothes and shoes and all kinds of other stuff. That’s not my wife. I’m the spender. She’s the saver. It was always like that. Now, I’m just much more of a saver than I used to be, and that is in large part thanks to that paradigm shift that came at the feet of one Dave Ramsey.
All that to say,
- if money fights and money problems are part of your “normal”
- if you are reading those debt and savings averages and it’s sounding a little too familiar
- if you are hurting right now thinking about your money situation,
then let me encourage you: There is hope, and you are not alone.
In my view, the best thing I can do is to point you to what helped me. It is the best money I’ve ever spent. Go check out daveramsey.com. Find a Financial Peace University class going on near you, and if there isn’t one, start one. It might just save your marriage and your life.
drbillduvall.com 