Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Repentance and Debt (Part 1)

I have to give my pastor Dr. Scott Maxwell credit for providing inspiration for this post.  He did an awesome sermon on repentance that you can play here.  I never really thought about the steps spiritually it took for me to come to grips with the sin of poorly stewarding over God’s provisions until I heard Dr. Scott’s message.  The sermon is outlining Acts 2:37-47.
  1. A deadly stabbing of the inner man.
    • For me this stabbing was realizing that I was living a life that was not in line with what God had intended.  Even though I was saved from my sin this was an area of my life that God had not chosen to reveal to me.  I was spending more than I made and was not keeping track of what God had blessed me with.  
  2. A pronounced awareness of guilt.
    1. I was definitely ashamed of how I was living.  Not only was I guilt ridden but I was so ashamed that I could not tell people that were close to me (church leadership, close friends, and mentors).  Just because you feel guilty it does not mean that you should not seek help from those people that are in the church.  Church goers and leaders should never be shocked or surprised that a fellow brother has fallen into sin.  It is the church’s job to help sinners understand that Jesus died so all sins can be forgiven.
  3. An unashamed admission of ignorance and or inability.
    1. This is where I started to turn the corner.  Knowing you don’t know how to accomplish or start something is a very freeing feeling.  I knew I needed help which meant I would start searching for people who had gone through what I was going through.  Spiritually it meant I was going to depend on God.  Physically I knew that I needed someone to help get me financial house in order.  That person turned out to be Dave Ramsey.


In my next post I will close with Scott’s other 3 points and how they relate to my poor stewardship of money.