First off, I really want to apologize for being inconsistent with material. There is no real excuse but Bipolar Disorder is no joke! The highs & lows of a manic episode sometimes force you to withdraw and give up on yourself. Just a heads up, I will be referencing Luke 16. My mom sent me this scripture to dissect today. Shout out to mommy.
I am going to vow to commit to what I love most; writing & empowering people. Nevertheless, I want to unpack this particular topic God placed in my heart today. "Debt measures integrity". God gave me this message to share. I want to say I relate to this so much because a lot of us have accumulated an unnecessary amount of debt. I have done this and I am now in the midst of vowing to alleviate some of the headache. I have learned that through accumulating debt, I have also learned that the behaviors and the mindset leading up to the debt were even as toxic.
Some of us may have taken out loans for good reasons like schooling, cars, homes etc. Some of us have accumulated debt from being irresponsible. The difference between a person accumulating debt in an effort to secure their livelihood is that this person is trying to do the right thing. They're being honorable and they're honoring God. Their fruit tells us so.
This person is trying to empower either themselves or their family by sowing seeds that will eventually flourish and blossom into a better life for themselves. This person is trying to build a good rapport with all debt collectors to provide a stable lifestyle that will eliminate unnecessary debt that will in turn alleviate unnecessary worrying. This person is truly trying to contribute to society in any way they can to reap a better life. Their goal is to honor themselves and the people & things around them. How does one develop the ability to honor? They must first appreciate. How does one retain the concept of appreciation? They must be grateful & bask in gratefulness. Are you grateful for what you have or have you complained every step of the way like I have? Never really enjoying the hurdles you've jumped?
You could not possibly move beyond where you are if you have a habit of depreciating yourself and what is around you if you are not honoring certain privileges awarded to your life. Some people loathe paying a bill. I want to throw in that there is a homeless person yearning to have a bill to play in the first place. There is a homeless person wishing they had the means to collect funds to pay off their rent. Yet, An irresponsible person will blow said funds on frivolous things that would give them temporary pleasure. Sometimes in an effort to keep up with everyone else and sometimes just to bandage over internal debts they refuse to settle.
An irresponsible person neglects all that is required to maintain the blessings they were hollering about receiving in the first place. I have done this. I have been so irresponsible in the past. Some may challenge this perspective because "society" has used "grind culture" as a means to overly saturate the thought that working equates responsibility. That is far from the truth. I can attest to playing it safe and working jobs I knew did nothing to stimulate my mind or challenge my way of doing things just to collect a check. That is what you call a slacker and to be quite frank-LAZY!
My 4th grade teacher Mrs.Kinney used to say "Don't turn your homework in unless you know for sure you that you did all of your work". She would then go on to say "Don't be slackers, I'll know if you half assed it". Yes she cursed and yes she played no games lol! I am saying this to say, you may think because you are doing something that you are contributing a great portion to this world & your life but the reality is God sees all and you are not fooling him. To the people that think that showing up to work is enough to make them eligible for accolades or other achievements are simply in denial with themselves. You will know what a person is really contributing by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-20 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them).
So with that being said, how many of us are claiming to be some sort of Bill Gates to society giving their blood sweat & tears to everything but continue to have smaller portions? I can attest to this! I have literally come to work and literally gave it my all. I mean I've been promoted in a month's time. I have trumped out colleagues with degrees and seniority and outsmarted supervisors. All of those things meant nothing without committing to what was required of me to maintain the blessings that I had at the time. I would work 10+ plus hours a day , Work double shifts and would never elevate. People would often ask me to go for a higher role and I would clam up or find an excuse as to why it wasn't for me. I was a committed high functioning slacker. I was playing it safe. I was in denial about the lackluster behavior I had. All of the money I made wasn't enough to satisfy the debt I had because I was too irresponsible in the way I did things. Never really settling internal debt thus coming to work and showing my complete behind, continuing to not settle internal debt and getting backed up in bills due to depression and manic episodes I didn't have to deal with alone but chose to because of PRIDE. I would achieve great things and opt to not have people reveal I completed it. I WOULD LOSE MY MIND IF PEOPLE KNEW WHAT I COULD REALLY CONTRIBUTE because I knew it would force me to settle debts I was too prideful, irresponsible and lazy to settle.
I would take on a group project, complete it myself and give another person credit.What in the name of shy was going on with me? Out of fear they would expect the same performance I knew I was way too lackluster to continue. Effort may very well be your intent but if your actions are those of a lazy person, you get mediocre results & feedback! I was miserable working jobs that didn't challenge my mind because I kept missing my turn to elevate to get the very things I was asking for. I was always talking smack!
To avoid missing the point, I want to reiterate debt measures integrity. What you refuse to settle or pay off indicates whether your are honest or dishonest. It also exposes where you are in your life even without you verbally revealing it. You can't say you're made of money and get evicted. You can't say money isn't an issue if all of your bills threaten to terminate services. If you refuse to settle internal issues (a form of a debt that must be paid in order to be productive) society has to pay. Society having to pay for a debt it didn't accumulate forces society to exclude the irresponsible from opportunities and other prospective endeavors. For example, most tax payers abhor anyone receiving government benefits. Why? The stigma attached to the recipients is that they don't have a desire to move on. Society becomes aggressive and demanding to know the stats on who is actually putting in the work to move beyond that situation to relieve the tax payers from shelling out their hard earned money. The "slackers" become burdens. The most shameful labeling you can receive when you are in debt.
Asking God for a house,car,business etc only to put in half the work and accumulate debt without the attempt to settle it shows that we are not who we say we are and it further proves character. Respecting luxuries and privileges given to us by God prove honesty & gratefulness. Debt is hard. Especially when you don't have the tools or mindset to break it down. However, the only factor hindering you from breaking those barriers is productivity. The impact productivity has will elevate your mind and your way of thinking. In order to be productive, one must truly care enough to want to change for the better to enhance their environment. Next, we must plan & put God in the middle of settling all debts (financial, internal & universal).
Lastly, I want to leave Luke 16 at the very bottom. I read Luke 16 this morning with an open heart after my mother sent me the scripture to read. Luke 16 explains the importance of settling debt, respecting the blessings we receive, being honorable (honesty) & God seeing what we really have in our hearts no matter what our mouths say. Many of us claim we stripped to feed our kids but God knows we sometimes put ourselves in risky situations for the fast money and notoriety. God knows sometimes when we fall short, our priorities lack. Luckily for us, God once again provides an outline on how to rise above being apprehended by our own worldy desires with the request that we include & honor him in all things.
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Thoughts?
Side note: please don't be offended by the stripper remark. I was just drawing a point.
Comments