Integrity
Okay, so technically, this is a follow up assignment for Personal Finance in the Self Reliance Class that Sarah and I are taking.
This is where we make the big leap, to attempt to become Gazelle intense (those that have read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover know what that means). Or at least getting ready to do so.
We were given a list of statements that we needed to answer from 1-4. No way are you getting the answers from me, this is a very personal exercise. Statements like these make me glad that Christ provided a way for us to return, as I would be locked out otherwise. Here is the list.
I keep all my promises, commitments, and covenants
I am completely truthful in things I say and records I keep
I do not exaggerate to make things better than they are
I return everything that I borrow and do not take things that do not belong to me
I am completely faithful to my spouse in my words and actions
I never cheat, even when I know I won't be caught.
When I find something that isn't mine, I return it to the owner
I always pay back money that I borrow
Now while I say it is difficult, as I would want to be able to put a 4 (highest) on each statement, it would be not completely honest to do so. No doubt some are thinking either that I am a hypocrite, liar, or that I am guilty of some great transgression. I don't think that I am, but know that I am broken, none the less. Usually I am too hard on myself, and so will automatically default to bad phil. These are some very good statements to assess one's integrity. Don't you think?
I know that I am terrible at managing money. I can't blame my parents, their example was one of being cautious with money (having grown up in the great depression). For me as I am preparing my assignments for this lesson, I am realizing that I do need to look at my life, look at how I spend my time and money, and define clearly wants and needs.
In my religious studies, I have found, (no need to be a great sleuth here) that most societies tend to follow the leadership of their nation state. In the Old Testament, when the King of Israel or Judah tended toward idolatry, the people tended that way as well. In the Book of Mormon, when Zeniff died, and his son Noah was made king the people went from righteous to licentiousness, why? Because the king did not walk in his father's footsteps in righteousness.
Today in our nation, we have a government that can't pass a budget under regular order (not since 2010), that spends like a drunken sailor (though President Reagan said that that was an insult to the drunken sailor), and buries its collective head in the sand when it comes to the looming disaster over entitlement spending. Is it any wonder we have a collective debt problem in this country?
That there is more than a trillion dollars in Student Loans? That health care spending is ridiculously high, and as such people are doing without health care because of the "AFFORDABLE Care Act"? Schools are getting more money than ever, and yet by most measures we are doing worse than ever before in educating our youth. I could go on and on, and yet we are bogged down in such bickering in DC, is it any wonder that people are drowning in personal debt? The numbers involved at the national level are such that no one really expects that debt to be paid off.
Believe it or not, none of the above was meant to rationalize bad behavior by individuals. Students applying to college and accepting their Student Loans have to sign a Master Promissory Note, and be educated on what that means. People that close on a house have to go through a stack of paper seemingly a mile high that explains exactly what they are signing, if they choose to read it. Credit card companies send out explanations every year explaining how their credit works. Individuals can be as well informed, or as poorly informed as they choose to be. But harking back to something I have written here before, most try to dodge consequences when they are due.
In the end, all we can worry about is ourselves. When we are in debt, whether it be consumer debt, a mortgage, or student loans, we have granted liens on our time and our money and property. We are in bondage after a fashion, and are not free to do as we wish. And that is no place to want to be.
This is where we make the big leap, to attempt to become Gazelle intense (those that have read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover know what that means). Or at least getting ready to do so.
We were given a list of statements that we needed to answer from 1-4. No way are you getting the answers from me, this is a very personal exercise. Statements like these make me glad that Christ provided a way for us to return, as I would be locked out otherwise. Here is the list.
I keep all my promises, commitments, and covenants
I am completely truthful in things I say and records I keep
I do not exaggerate to make things better than they are
I return everything that I borrow and do not take things that do not belong to me
I am completely faithful to my spouse in my words and actions
I never cheat, even when I know I won't be caught.
When I find something that isn't mine, I return it to the owner
I always pay back money that I borrow
Now while I say it is difficult, as I would want to be able to put a 4 (highest) on each statement, it would be not completely honest to do so. No doubt some are thinking either that I am a hypocrite, liar, or that I am guilty of some great transgression. I don't think that I am, but know that I am broken, none the less. Usually I am too hard on myself, and so will automatically default to bad phil. These are some very good statements to assess one's integrity. Don't you think?
I know that I am terrible at managing money. I can't blame my parents, their example was one of being cautious with money (having grown up in the great depression). For me as I am preparing my assignments for this lesson, I am realizing that I do need to look at my life, look at how I spend my time and money, and define clearly wants and needs.
In my religious studies, I have found, (no need to be a great sleuth here) that most societies tend to follow the leadership of their nation state. In the Old Testament, when the King of Israel or Judah tended toward idolatry, the people tended that way as well. In the Book of Mormon, when Zeniff died, and his son Noah was made king the people went from righteous to licentiousness, why? Because the king did not walk in his father's footsteps in righteousness.
Today in our nation, we have a government that can't pass a budget under regular order (not since 2010), that spends like a drunken sailor (though President Reagan said that that was an insult to the drunken sailor), and buries its collective head in the sand when it comes to the looming disaster over entitlement spending. Is it any wonder we have a collective debt problem in this country?
That there is more than a trillion dollars in Student Loans? That health care spending is ridiculously high, and as such people are doing without health care because of the "AFFORDABLE Care Act"? Schools are getting more money than ever, and yet by most measures we are doing worse than ever before in educating our youth. I could go on and on, and yet we are bogged down in such bickering in DC, is it any wonder that people are drowning in personal debt? The numbers involved at the national level are such that no one really expects that debt to be paid off.
Believe it or not, none of the above was meant to rationalize bad behavior by individuals. Students applying to college and accepting their Student Loans have to sign a Master Promissory Note, and be educated on what that means. People that close on a house have to go through a stack of paper seemingly a mile high that explains exactly what they are signing, if they choose to read it. Credit card companies send out explanations every year explaining how their credit works. Individuals can be as well informed, or as poorly informed as they choose to be. But harking back to something I have written here before, most try to dodge consequences when they are due.
In the end, all we can worry about is ourselves. When we are in debt, whether it be consumer debt, a mortgage, or student loans, we have granted liens on our time and our money and property. We are in bondage after a fashion, and are not free to do as we wish. And that is no place to want to be.
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