How would your life look if you could achieve financial freedom? Perhaps you have it all planned out–the places you would go, the investments you could make, or the peace you would experience. Investopedia defines financial freedom as having enough money, assets, and resources to afford the lifestyle you and your family want to live. As Christian entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors, we define it differently.
Before we become financially free in our bank account, we need to adjust our mindset. When we focus on abundance instead of scarcity, we can have peace in knowing that God is our provider. This is what financial freedom is all about. One major way we achieve it is through passive income like investments that bring in more money than our jobs.
You can start to take steps to achieve financial freedom right now. We get a snapshot of financial freedom in 2 Corinthians 9:8, which says, “God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.” This scripture reminds us that God gives to us generously so that we can do the same for others. No matter where you are in your financial journey, generosity is a foundational part of financial freedom that helps us manage money the way God intended.
Financial Freedom is not about attaining comfort. Rather, we should aim to achieve financial freedom so we can bless other people even more. This blog outlines three steps to help you achieve financial freedom. They are:
1. Escalate Your Ability to Earn
2. Eliminate Consumer Debt
3. Accumulate Wealth
1. Escalate Your Ability to Earn
The first step you can take toward financial freedom is escalating your income. Some people believe you need a lot of capital to start a business that will help you achieve financial freedom. The truth is, you don’t need a lot of resources to escalate your earning potential.
Think about what you’re doing at this very moment. You’re reading this blog to learn everything about the steps you can take to achieve financial freedom. I like to say the more you learn, the more you earn. There are so many free and low-cost resources like blogs, podcasts, and books available at your disposal. If you want to learn more about how to escalate your ability to earn, read the blog “Creating Lasting Wealth Through Passive Income.” You can find out more about diversifying your streams of income by reading “7 Income Streams To Help You Achieve Money Mastery.” Take advantage of every opportunity you have to learn more about the steps you should take to escalate your income.
2. Eliminate Consumer Debt
Consumer debt will cause a bottleneck in your plans to escalate your income and achieve financial freedom. That’s why the second step to financial freedom is all about eliminating it. According to Einstein, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.” The fact of the matter is that you can’t build your own wealth if you’re paying interest on your consumer debt. This makes step two very important in the process to achieve financial freedom.
If you have consumer debt then you understand how easy it is to acquire and how hard it is to get rid of. Here is a 9-step process you can use to eliminate debt and start building wealth immediately:
1. Keep one credit card – cut up the rest!
2. Pay off all monthly charges on your credit card, or stop using the card altogether.
3. Make the minimum payment on all of your debts.
4. List all of your current debts.
5. Pay off the debt you can eliminate the quickest first.
6. Find the winning percentage.
– The winning percentage is 10 % of the money you have left over after spending 80 % of your income on living expenses and 10 % on tithes.
7. Use the winning percentage to pay off the debt you can get rid of first.
8. Pay off one debt, then apply the total monthly payment to the next debt.
9. Apply the winning percentage to your assets once debt is paid off.
– After you pay off your credit cards and consumer debt, apply the money you would have spent on those bills to your assets.
Proverbs 10:22 says, “the blessings of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.” Consumer debt can feel painful and bring stress to our lives. When we make plans to eliminate that debt, we can stop being mastered by our money and start mastering it.
3. Accumulate Wealth
The third step to financial freedom is all about building your savings account which you can use for both emergencies and purchasing a home. I always say that nobody ever built significant wealth by earning and saving alone. However, an emergency fund is the foundation of wealth building.
Emergencies happen. A savings account can help you prepare for emergencies while you’re also securing money to invest in assets like your home. When you start putting money into a savings account, you can begin setting money aside for a home. That home could become an investment property that can help you accumulate wealth if you decide to rent it out or sell it. In order to achieve financial freedom, you’ll need some discipline in this area. I suggest that you aim to live off 70 percent of your income, tithe 10 percent, invest 10 percent, and save 10 percent in your emergency fund.
These three steps will help you get started on the path to financial freedom. Next week, I want to continue to dive deeper into more steps to financial freedom. Consider: how can you escalate, eliminate, and accumulate in your finances? If you’re ready to take even more steps to financial freedom, I wrote a book called “God’s Road To Financial Freedom” to equip you with the power tools that you’ll need to make your money start working for you. Click here to get your copy so that you can start walking in the blessing of financial freedom today.
ccount, you can begin setting money aside for a home. That home could become an investment property that can help you accumulate wealth if you decide to rent it out or sell it. In order to achieve financial freedom, you’ll need some discipline in this area. I suggest that you aim to live off 70 percent of your income, tithe 10 percent, invest 10 percent, and save 10 percent in your emergency fund.
These three steps will help you get started on the path to financial freedom. Next week, I want to continue to dive deeper into more steps to financial freedom. Consider: how can you escalate, eliminate, and accumulate in your finances? If you’re ready to take even more steps to financial freedom, I wrote a book called “God’s Road To Financial Freedom” to equip you with the power tools that you’ll need to make your money start working for you. Click here to get your copy so that you can start walking in the blessing of financial freedom today.
