> Bad debt results from bad decisions.

           Pride (Exodus 20.17; Proverbs 21.24-26

           Impulse (Psalm 10.3; Proverbs 21.5)

           Greed (Proverbs 28.25; I Timothy 6.10)

Did you notice what  the three first letters spell? PIG.  That’s what bad debt is - it stinks and seems to eat everything!  Sometimes our we lose control and our money begins to manage us rather than us managing our money.  

> Financial freedom begins in the heart.

The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and all those who dwell therein.  Psalm 24.1 (NKJV)

No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money.  Luke 16.13 (NLT)

 > Myths about the tithe maim many believers.  (Genesis 14.18-20; Deuteronomy 8.18; Malachi 3.8; 2 Corinthians 8.14)

Giving is an external testimony of God's ownership of everything in our lives.

Tithing is one of the first standards of giving found in the Bible.

 Abraham tithed 430 years before the Law was given to Moses.  Under the law in the Old Testament, giving a tithe was required. The tithe is not a limit. God's people in the Old Testament were to give nearly one-fourth of their income.

Bottomline:  We must allow the Holy Spirit to transform our attitude toward money from accumulation to one of dedication.  Faith and finances are not exclusive of one another but rather together help us live with peace and purpose whether we are prosperous or poor.