What is a risk? Simply put, a risk is exposing oneself to the chance of injury or loss. Becoming a risk taker is not a characteristic that usually comes to mind when we think of what we want to accomplish in our financial character. Sure, as a money-manager in any capacity we have to take risks, but we usually try to minimize our risk when it comes to finances! So why should we be risk takers with our money? Learning to live financially free will cost you...it will be a risk. But great risk also yields a great return.
There are three kinds of people - people who watch things happen, people who make things happen, and people who say "what happened?" Which one do you want to be? To be someone who makes things happen, you have to take risks. Face it - in our culture today, living debt free is weird. It's not the cultural norm. Choosing to get out of debt and to refuse to use credit or go into further debt is taking a risk.
1. You risk your reputation. People might think you're one of those "Dave Ramsey fanatics" or just a downright tightwad (is that a bad thing?). And what if it doesn't work? How many people do you know who've "tried the budgeting thing" and it "didn't work for them"? When you step out in faith and go against the cultural norm, people are watching! Being different means you risk what people might think about you.
2. You risk your relationships. Your friends and family may think you're crazy or foolish. They may decide that they don't want to be around you because the way you're living makes them feel convicted about the way they are living.
3. You risk your ability to "get rich quick". There's a lot of people out there claiming to know how to make you rich quickly. But there's only one way that will get you there with a sense of peace and fulfillment, and that's the slow, steady way. Proverbs 13:11 says "Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time."
4. You risk your stuff. Living in financial freedom means making sacrifices, which sometimes means doing without something you want, or postponing the satisfaction of having something you desire.
But when you step out in faith and choose to "...not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2), you stand in a place of power. Face it, the "pattern of this world" is a culture of debt, of excess, of instant gratification, of comparing image and status...and we're called out of that pattern to something different....a lifestyle of living in financial freedom. Imagine what the people of God could do for the Kingdom of God if they were financially free!
Are you ready to take some risks?
