Chapter 5: The Key to Independent Wealth
TranscrIpt:
Hi! Welcome to this week’s training! I’m Sherri Wilson, owner of Genius Communication, the place for all things business. Today we are finishing up my story of paying off $56,000 of debt fast! This is another chapter where I share a lot about my faith in Jesus in the context of paying off my debt. And like the other episode, I’d love if those of you that are my friends but might not be of the same faith stay with this episode.
WORKING BELIEVER OFFERING
We’ve come full circle. We’re back at where this story started in chapter one on my couch receiving the news that I’d not have any money coming in for another month. Before I’d received the phone call, I had learned something in my Bible study that I had no idea how impactful it would be.
The day before, I was having what I call my “Study Day” or “Jesus Day.” It’s a day where I study the Bible, watch or listen to teaching, and take naps. :D I was looking over the passage in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 where Paul discussed an offering he was taking for believers in Jerusalem. He was instructing them on how to take up the offering so it was ready for pickup.
He was also encouraging them in a really simple idea—sow a little and get a little. And, of course, the opposite is true. He then talks about how God loves a cheerful giver and is ready to give you all you need to be generous and satisfied, bread to eat and more seed to sow. I’ve heard this passage a hundred times in church settings. But this time I was reading it more carefully and in the Passion Translation, which I’ll quote here in a second.
As I was reading I felt led to look up the word “poor” in verse 9, which I thought was the usual word for poor in the Bible—beggarly, destitute, etc. I was shocked to discover (and I’m paraphrasing) that this word means a believer who is working for a living but needs an extra hand of help. I was stunned! Again, I’d only learned of this passage from church settings where it was said and prayed before taking up a church offering. Now I saw that Paul was referring to helping other Christ followers who are working but need a helping hand. Now with that, I reread this passage. Let me quote it in its fullness.
“Here’s my point. A stingy sower will reap a meager harvest, but the one who sows from a generous spirit will reap an abundant harvest. Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity! Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything —every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do. Just as the Scriptures say about the one who trusts in him: Because he has sown extravagantly and given to the poor, his kindness and generous deeds will never be forgotten. This generous God who supplies abundant seed for the farmer, which becomes bread for our meals, is even more extravagant toward you. First he supplies every need, plus more. Then he multiplies the seed as you sow it, so that the harvest of your generosity will grow. You will be abundantly enriched in every way as you give generously on every occasion, for when we take your gifts to those in need, it causes many to give thanks to God.”
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 TPT
The working believer offering
Since then, I’ve dubbed this as “The Working Believer Offering.” The phrase “have more than enough of everything” is a Greek word used to describe “independently wealthy.” I formed a plan. I decided that I would regularly give working believer offerings because I love to give. I’m also a business woman and saw that this was a sound financial decision.
I went to the bank and pulled out $25. I knew exactly who I wanted to give my first offering to. I wrote a note and signed it, Cheerful Giver. I arranged with my friend who owned the business this individual worked at to get it to that person. I knew it wasn’t much but at the time when we didn’t know if we’d eat, that $25 might as well have been $250. And it was at this point that I have my offering next to me on the couch ready to give later that day that I got the news about no money for the month. I knew that I had to get into the right frame of mind. I couldn’t give it with no faith. It took me about an hour. Once I was ready, I cheerfully gave that $25. It’s the most special of all the offerings.
From that point on, things accelerated and quick. I continued my offerings and each was bigger than before. I have story after story of how I knew how much I needed to give but didn’t have it. Then suddenly I’d get a weird job or someone would give me money, and I had the exact amount. Before I knew it my business income had quadrupled. Our debt was almost paid. And I was able to complete a goal I had to give away my first car, which I did February 2021.
Vision!
The next key to my freedom was casting vision and creating aspiration. I’ve talked about creating vision boards for vision in past blogs. The main thing is that I never put anything on it unless it was an 8-10 on a scale of 1-10 for desire. I then created my vision board and hung it in my closet! I discovered that was the only place I’d see it often and take a moment to really stare at it.
The next step came from my good friend, Coach Greg McNeil, who is the co-host of our podcast, “Healing Community. Healing Business.” He taught how to do an Aspiration Journal at a Vision Workshop we both conducted earlier this year. Now, he had told me how to do this before, but the class really helped clarify.
What you do is buy a notebook or journal and a blue pen, which helps with memory. And you write down a 1-3 sentence paragraph that is your Definite Chief Aim meaning the ONE THING you’re going to focus on for the next 90 days, six months, year, or lifetime. You write it down every single day. I did that and also added more to it. For example, I’d write lists of my next immediate goals and then I’d take 2-3 of them and flesh them out with details.
Doing this trained my subconscious to filter out all of the distractions and only pursue and see those things that furthered my goals. My aspiration journal became a main driving force for staying focused and disciplined. It also created hope any time I was frustrated or feeling a bit down.
to end
That’s it. I found a way (with some help from my Father in heaven, of course) to pay off debt with joy, a sense of adventure, and strategy. It became a fun game that I won! I also learned invaluable lessons that I now guide my life with and share with others.
Here’s the thing, though. At any time, we can revert back to old ways of doing things. This type of work is continual. Even to this day, I’ll get a thought, “Just charge it. You make plenty of money.” That is an old thought trying to rear its ugly head. That’s what got us in trouble in the first place. I was determined to learn this lesson and not commit the same mistake again.
We often reduce debt pay off, savings, budgets, and other disciplines to the level of going to the dentist to get a cavity filled or a tooth pulled. It doesn’t have to be this way. And if you do the things I shared (the entire purpose of this series), you will create adventure in your journey like I did.
P.S. What were the monsters and scary forests I mentioned at the beginning? Fear, anxiety, doubt of myself, uncertainty, credit card offers, hopelessness, helplessness, and really any emotion you can think you’d feel in a similar situation. Maybe you’re feeling these things now. If so, I’d love to hear from you to see if I can help. Email me at sherriannewilson@gmail.com