In his book Taming the Money Monster well-known Christian financial counselor Ron Blue introduces his readers to common reasons why people go into debt:
- Lack of Discipline
- Lack of Contentment
- Search for Security
- Search for Significance
Here’s what I think:
If I were to rate these I would put the lack of discipline as number one. In our convenience oriented world people often do not really interact with cash. The pay check is automatically deposited. Their bills automatically withdrawn. They pay for groceries, gas, and goods with a credit card. So they never really interact with cash. Why pay attention to it? Why spend time with it? As long as there is money in the account (and even when there is not) I can still charge that item, so why spend time trying to figure everything out?
Lack of contentment. Not really sure about this one. We are a people who seem to 'need' a lot. I do not know if we are not content, or greedy, or just have a high level of need. Probably we have a bit of all of these things.
Search for security. Be honest. We all feel a little better when there is a cash cushion in the account. The question is always when does saving become hoarding, and when does security become a false security with misappropriated hope? I suspect there are a lot of us who feel less secure after the 2008 experience than we did prior, and yet our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Interesting to consider.
Search for significance. There is a lot to this. Power and significance go hand in hand. Seems as though the Bible does not have a lot of positive things to say about humanity's quest for power.
By the way, to see more of Ron Blue’s material you can check out his website here.
