Christmas is on the Cards
Will it be a LeapPad, a Lightsaber or a Lego Fire Temple? All 'must have' toys for this Christmas. Despite rapidly rising prices for basics like food, energy and petrol, the season of shopping on credit cards is with us again - leaving debts that will contribute to a national day of gloom in January when the statements come through.
Personal debt, excluding mortgages, now averages around £9,000 per household in Britain. It's frightening and makes people feel trapped, driven and despairing. To escape from debt we must honestly face up to it and make some tough choices.
I'm not talking about people whose life situations put them on, or even below, the breadline, with agonizing decisions to make every day. Such people deserve our support and the help and advice of charities like Christians Against Poverty. No, I'm talking about the majority of us who are in a position to make some simpler choices about what we spend.
My mobile is looking old, the battery is not what it was, but to change it I would have to move to a more expensive contract. I want a new one, but I don't need it. I would love to give my kids some big presents, but if I'm really honest they don't need them either. The pressure is coming from a culture which says 'I am what I have', and perhaps from my own covetousness and insecurity.
In Scripture we read, 'I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation' (Philippians 4:12). Yes, contentment! A mighty weapon in the fight against covetousness and materialism! This may well be the battle to be fought in many a heart and mind in the lead up to Christmas. If we can learn to be content with less 'stuff', we may discover an increased freedom to make work and lifestyle changes and adapt to reduced income.
Far be it from me to stifle generosity - especially as giving can be a language of love. But Scripture also says that 'if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have' (2 Corinthians 8:12). In the midst of our giving let's hold on to the freedom of a low debt lifestyle.
'Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another' (Romans 13:8).
Paul Valler
Spot on! As I debate about which office lunches to attend this Christmas, it makes me consider them very carefully when the total that they may cost me would cover the sponsorship of a child in Bolivia for a year! I do believe it is important for Christians to be salt and light throughout our communities and work places, but I don't want to ignore or minimise the financial, emotional and spiritual cost of being that salt and light. How to reign it in without being a killjoy - that's a dilemma and over to You, God.
Date:
2011-11-04 19:49:56
Author:
Kate Henry