Christian Debt Counseling Guide

Debt is a widespread problem for the people of our times. Our cultural ideals promote consumerism and the idea of that you can buy happiness, even if happiness cannot be bought, and even if the price tag was too high too afford, what then? No worries, that’s what credit cards are for, right?

Surprisingly, data shows there is little distinction between the Christian community and the secular world insofar as spending habits, consumerism, and debt go. This includes such questionable things as high levels of spending, tying directly into carrying a large amount of credit card debt.  (1)

There’s controversy over the statistics proclaiming the amount of debt the average American holds. Showed one way, individuals on average hold $8,000 in debt. However, Financial Expert Liz Weston (2) writes that the reality behind those statistics is quite different. For instance, instead of the much quoted “$8,000 average debt per American” statistic, the truth is that most Americans owe nothing to credit card companies, but those households who do carry $2,000 or less. She goes on to say that about 1 in every 20 households in the United States has an $8,000 debt or more in credit cards to their name.

While this is certainly better news than the flawed statistic (due to how averages are calculated) that each American has $8,000 in credit card debt individually, it is still somewhat unsettling to have the curtain pulled back and see how much of a problem many still have when it comes to debt. To repeat, her findings state that those households who do have a credit card, 1 in 20 have at least $8,000 in credit card debt to contend with.

Credit card debt can become a financial hurdle that feels nearly impossible to jump over and move past once the cycle gets too much too handle. For families dealing with increasing credit card bills, those numbers are like having a dead weight attached to them, dragging them down further and further, all the while the surface of financial freedom gets farther away with each bill.

For Christians who have found themselves in this unsettling financial situation, a trend is developing to help them deal with their money problems from within the Christian community themselves. This is the idea of “Christian Debt”, also commonly called Christian Debt Counseling.

The goal this website is to explain in common sense, down to earth terms, how Christian Debt Counseling and Christian Debt Management companies and strategies help fellow Christians resolve their credit card debt in an ethical way, one that’s true to Christian ideals, while also getting them back on their feet financially.

Sources:
(1) Generous Living
(2) Liz Weston

No Comments »

Credit card debt is a problem for many people, no matter what their faith. Surprisingly, data shows that the Christian community essentially follows the same spending habits as everyone else, leading many Christians to credit card debt problems (first post) just as much as anyone else.

For years, the financial world has offered debt consolidation help to those with massive credit card debt. In a sort of one-two punch given by the financial sector, one company gives you a credit card and then profits from your debt, then another company steps in and profits from helping you manage that very same debt that you couldn’t afford in the first place.

This is where the growing Christian Debt Counseling world can step in and assist individuals with their credit card debt problems. Most Christian Debt Counseling companies operate on a not for profit basis. This non-profit set up helps keep the system honest, so to speak, by virtue of the fact that there is no financial incentive – or capacity, by default – to charge extenuating fees, penalties, or high interest rates – in an effort to make profits.

The bulk of what a Christian Debit Credit Counseling company does is offer a debt consolidation service. This means all your debts to individual companies is paid off, and in place off that, a new loan is given to you by the Christian Counseling company. This new loan means just a single monthly payment. It will also carry a much lower interest rate. Whereas the previous loans were designed to extract as much money as possible from the borrower, the new loan is designed to pay back the money borrowed without overzealous interest rates, penalties, or fees.

Christian Debt Counselors also work with people using a philosophy that at root is grounded in Biblical financial principles. Spiritual counseling and financial counseling is par for the course, offering insight to those needs debt relief as to what connection their is between their spending habits and their spiritual life. This perspective is a wonderful aspect of working with a professional Christian Debt Counseling company, as we all know the spiritual aspect of life is the ground for the physical. If people are not able to manage their money from a Christian mindset, they are likely to find themselves in financial turmoil further on down the road.

In this sense, Christian Debt Counseling seeks to not just solve the immediate problem at hand – the high amount of credit card debt – but also to address the root of the problem.

If you are dealing with a high amount of credit card debt, getting help from a Christian Debt Counseling company is like coming to the surface and getting a breath of fresh air when you were drowning. You still have to – swim to shore – meaning, you still have to repay your debts – but instead of swimming back to shore alone, with waves of high interest rates and fees knocking you down and pushing you back 10 feet for every 5 feet you swim, Christian Debt Counselors will be there for you, pulling you back to shore with a raft, giving you the tools you need to make it back to the shore and stand on your own two feet.

No Comments »