Laws that Set Us Free
I’ve been studying James 1 and 2 with regard to the phrase “law of liberty.” When we think of laws, we think of rules that carry consequences and penalties for violation; and enforceable by one or more authorities. So, how is the Word of God, the “law of liberty” when it carries very real consequences for disobedience? I’ll touch more on that at the end of this post. For now, I want to take it in a different direction. Since this is a primarily a Christian financial blog, I want to apply this scripture to a financial concept- Budgeting.
For some of us, a budget seems so constricting. The rules force us to decide what we will do with our money. Before the month comes in, we have to assign $1200 to the mortgage, $250 to the car payment, $102 to car insurance, $200 to groceries, etc. The amounts will vary by person or family, but the idea remains the same. We are naming dollar amounts and putting every dollar to a purpose. It takes time, thought, and energy. It feels like a bunch of rules that limit our free spirits; when all we’re trying to do is pay our bills and enjoy life, while there’s opportunity.
or others of us, a budget is freedom. Allocating money to designated purposes shows us the boundaries we have to work within. If there’s something we want to do, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to get it in
F the budget. The budget doesn’t tell us we can’t do it. It just helps us figure out how we can. For example, if we have enough of a surplus, great! Assign that surplus to whatever the new thing is we wanted. If we don’t have enough of a surplus, we may have to save up for a few months, we may have to reduce how much we are spending on some of the other things in our budget, we may have to have a yard sale or sell some things on Craigs List, or we may have to get a side-hustle for a while. Meanwhile, all essential bills and expenses continue to get paid.
It’s a game of figuring out how to get it done, without violating the rules of math. If we have $2000 for the month, we can’t spend $2500. We don’t fund it by credit card and if it’s not an emergency, it doesn’t come from our emergency fund. Those aren’t’ the action of people with a healthy financial mindset.
Now, James 1 & 2 is speaking of the Word of God and Freedom in Christ. Some people look at the bible as a bunch of oppressive rules that steal any similitude of an enjoyable life. Those who have been set free in Christ see the Word of God as a grace. Our hearts have been transformed to desire to please our Father. We don’t seek to obey because we have to but because we want to.
In a non-spiritual sense, a budget works the same. For some, it’s an oppressive game of telling us what we can’t do. For others, it provides the freedom to responsibly determine what to do with our money without jeopardizing our priorities and endangering our livelihood, credibility, and integrity.
