Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. I make too much damn money to broke. I’m just going to put it out there, and keep it all the way real. All of my kids are grown, and I live waaay below my means, except for when it comes to “loaning” money. I got a bad habit of taking care of other folks before I take care of myself. In other words, I spend more time worrying about other people’s problems than they do. And, let me just put it this way, I could probably be a millionaire if I were to call in all the “loans” that I’ve never gotten a payment on.
Now before anybody stands up to tell me how blessed I’m going to be for helping others, sit down for a minute and let me finish…
God has charged me to be a few things, and a fool isn’t one of them. The Word of God charges us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as a dove. It’s downright foolish and unwise to loan and give money that you don’t have. And that’s what I’ve done over and over again in the past. But, no more, because God also charges me to be a good steward over the things that he blesses me with. A steward is a manager. And how well am I managing the things that he has entrusted to me—including money—if I loan bill money, and then I can’t pay my bills? God gets no glory out of me—or you—living with no electricity or heat because we’ve loaned our money to someone who wasn’t a good steward over theirs either.
It’s Day 12 of the Millionaire Journey, and although I’m still 353 days away from being a millionaire dollar-wise, I definitely have a renewed million-dollar mindset. And to God be the glory. People don’t need my money, they need my motivation (Wallace D. Wattles). Otherwise, I’ll continue to stay broke. Correction, they’ll continue to stay broke, because as a man thinks, so he is. And my thinking has changed. There’s no more meandering in mediocrity for me.
Lisa Maria Carroll
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4 comments:
Lisa , great post. The most important part of this post to me is the best thing you can give people is motivation not money. But it is hard to turn away people who may have less than you who appear to be in real need. But if you continue to loan money to people you don't have and who you know may not pay you back then you aren't helping either of you but only adding to potential problems. Bottom line: you can't help anyone if you're broke. (Kim)
Kim,
Dr. Phil always says you don't solve money problems with money. I know this is true, because I make a really good salary, but I always have people, some I barely even know, asking for loans. Asking isn't the problem. Me giving it is.
You can take all the money from the people who have it, and give it to the folks who don't, and in a year, the people who you took the money from will have more money, and the people you gave the money to will be broke again.
I don't have a problem with the people who need. I have a problem with people who take, take, take. You know, the ones who buy what they want, and then beg for what they need? Yeah, them. And I get tired of being the family member who gets the good Christian speech about how God is going to bless me when I loan money to folks who spend theirs on drugs, cigarettes, tattoos, etc. God is going to bless me even when I say no.
Die habit die!I no longer hold it as an obligation to loan out money I don't have nor that I do. We all work hard and at times need the assistance of others. My job is to determine who actually needs the assistance and who has created the need FOR the assistance. Too many BROKE folks buy what they want and beg for what they need!
Lisa this post is so timely. Every word is true and has opened my eyes to the mindset of broke people.
I do wonder what would happen if we required some form of work or exchange for the value of the money we are asked to lend out. In other words, the next time someone asks to borrow money, you (or we) ask them what they are willing to give in exchange. Wash my car, clean my house, cook a few meals, give up that Wii, etc. I bet they will think twice about asking for money again. Because it will require some effort on their part to earn it or do what they should be doing anyway, finding a way to make extra to cover whatever expense they have.
I think the ones who borrow from you or me ask with the mentality that this is really just a free gift instead of a loan. But since we don't turn "Bubba" loose on them when they don't pay it back because they consider it a gift.
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