Discouraged by Slow Debt Progress? You’re Doing Better Than You Think

Speaker A00:00:28

I thought I'd start today with a listener question. Ralph, I've been paying on my credit cards for months and it feels like I'm getting nowhere. Every time I make a payment, the balance barely moves.It's discouraging. How do I stay hopeful when it feels like I'll never get out of debt? That is discouraging, and I totally understand that. You know, this is not easy.As we prepare for today's show, Abby, my producer, pulled some statistics. Listen to this one. The average credit card Debt is now $7,800.And when they surveyed, half the people feel like they'll never be free from that debt because so many people think freedom is about speed. Oh, I got to get it paid off right away. Listen, to be honest, you didn't get into debt overnight. It's not about speed. It's about direction.And listen, I get it. You're so frustrated by slow progress. But the thing you're not realizing is you've made small steps. You've made a commitment to paying it down.That's a huge thing. And I've seen people realize their progress later on by just starting small. And listen, being in debt can feel like you're standing still.But every single payment that you make is moving you forward. Because God's not asking you for perfection. He's asking you for persistence. So let's talk about finding that persistence on today's show.

Speaker B00:01:46

This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel grounded insight and faith driven tips to to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence.

Speaker A00:01:58

Hello there and welcome. I'm Ralph. Thank you so much for joining me today as we talk about how to break that cycle of financial shame and do it with confidence.We are in the midst of a December series, what I'm calling the December reset. A time to reflect, a time to refocus, and a time prepare for the new year. And today is a great thing to talk about.A lot of people get mired down in debt. Well, I want to share a story. Has nothing to do with debt. I. But it's all about being persistent and being in that progress.And if you've listened to the show, you know, I've talked a lot about my weight loss journey. I got up to a big fat 430 pounds at one point.There were times when I got to that point where the doctor said to me, ralph, you're not going to survive much longer. I knew that I needed to make a change. Now a lot of people say, okay, great, I bet you went on a Crash diet? Yeah.Over the last 10 years, I've been on about 15 crash diets and they never worked. Not one time. Yeah, I'd drop a few pounds. But then I gained it right back again. I knew that something had to change. And what changed this past time?I'm going to share some details with you. I just got on the scale this past Friday and since January 1, I have now lost 62 pounds. That's just this year.Now, I don't say that to brag because guess what? This isn't about me. I haven't been faithful because at the beginning of this year, I said, God, I can't do this on my own.I saw this weight in front of me and I said, how am I ever going to fix this? But it was that consistency. It was that day in and day out decision. It was that faithfulness. Well, guess what? Debt works exactly the same way.You might be facing at a mountain of credit card debt. And listen, I've been there too. I remember when I just graduated from college, I just got married and man, I loved credit cards.Man, I was buying everything, setting up a new home and man, this, the debt pile just got higher and higher and higher. And it makes you feel weary at times because you're looking at it like, oh, there's no way I'm going to get past this.And maybe you've came up with a plan. That's great, you came up with a plan. But you're like, Ralph, I'm still not getting anywhere. I've been paying this for six months.I've been paying this for nine months. I remember being in that myself. I wrote down on a piece of paper all the credit cards and the balances.Man, I was shocked because I looked around, I was like, where did that stuff go? You might be thinking the same thing. Where did the money go? And I looked at that mountain and I said, how am I ever going to get past this?I did the same thing with my weight. I looked at that mountain. Well, if you're facing that mountain right now, I want to encourage you with the Bible verse.It comes from the book of Galatians. It's from chapter six, verse nine. It says, let us not grow weary in doing good. We will reap a harvest if we do not give up.So that's my encouragement today, because God measures faithfulness, not speed. It wasn't about speed. With my weight loss, it's not going to be about speed.The listener who put in that question about credit card debt or debt, it's not going to be about speed. It's going to be about that faithfulness. And you really have to be faithful in his timing. Because when you embrace his timing, it leads to peace.So here are some main points I want to talk about today. Here's the things I want you to really lean into. Every dollar that you pay on your debt is a declaration of freedom.You might be saying, Ralph, yeah, but man, I'm not getting anywhere. You are getting somewhere. You owe less now than when you started. That's progress. That's a declaration of, I'm not going to live with this anymore.That's a declaration of freedom. And because you're continuing to do it, you're being faithful. Nae mine say, listen, it's like the old tortoise and the hare thing, right?Everybody says, whoa, the hare is fast. They're gonna always win. Doesn't always work that way. It's that faithfulness.It's that day in and day out, that month in and month out commitment that I'm not gonna charge up the credit cards anymore. I going to pay that mountain down and adjust the plan, not the purpose. Maybe you, maybe you feel like I'm not getting far enough.Okay, well then go look at your budget again. Can you find 10 extra dollars a month or 25 extra dollars a month? Your purpose is still set on getting out of debt.Ask yourself this, what are some small wins you can celebrate this very month? Maybe for you it's, hey, this is a win. I didn't put anything new on the credit cards. That's huge.If you were like me, you're always putting stuff on them. That's two steps forward, two steps back. You're not getting anywhere. But maybe for you, that win was, you didn't add any debt to it. That's huge.Because when you shift that frustration into gratitude, it changes the dynamic. And you want to get somewhere with this.You really want to accomplish paying down that debt, turn that frustration into gratitude and celebrate those small wins. Well, as we're celebrating right now, how about we pray for some help right now? Lord, we come to you right now.We are so grateful for those small wins or that small progress that we see that you are making an impact in our life. And Lord, we just ask you to help us to stay strong and be faithful in this journey. We know it's not easy, Lord.We know it's a day in and day out decision, Lord, and we just have hope in your timing, not in our timing. It's so easy to get stuck on our timing, Lord, but we know you've got the answer.And Lord, just help us to have freedom from that shame and that freedom from that feeling of comparison. Because we know in so many ways, a lot of times it's that comparison trap that leads us into debt. So, Lord, we just thank you for your graciousness.We thank you for the provision you give us in our lives when we ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen. Here's your action item for today. I want you to really celebrate some wins. Write down how much debt you've paid off this year.You might be saying, ralph, I've only paid down $100 of debt this year. Well, guess what? That's $100 of debt that you don't have anymore. That's a win. You didn't charge it up, you didn't add to it.And then the next thing, thank God for it. And then ask for one step of faith to take next. Because guess what, you can do this.And if you're looking for encouragement, if you're looking for accountability, I want to invite you to our group. It's called the Financially Confident Christian Community.It's a wonderful place to go and interact with people just like you who are trying to break that cycle of financial shame and do it with confidence. And it' easy to get there. Just go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/join again. That's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/Join.It won't cost you a dime. You can join for free. I'm putting a lot of content over there, absolutely free.Now if you're interested in supporting the show, there are three additional tiers where you can sponsor the show. But again, that's at financiallyconfidentchristian.com/join.And as I close today, remember this small wins matter because God sees your effort and you're closer to freedom than you think. I just want to encourage you right now. You can do this. Go out there today and be a financially competent Christian. I have confidence in you.Have confidence in yourself. Because guess what? God has confidence in you and he wants you to be successful. So stay financially savvy today. God bless you.And I'll see you again tomorrow on the show.