Mar 22 2009
The Good Thing That Will Come Out of The Recession
The idea of stewardship is one that is not new; very simply, it means taking care of something. Money stewardship, then, is the responsibility to take care of money wisely. Although there are people in our nation that have been frugal, good stewards of their money, let’s face it: many people have not.
Look at the evidence: how many foreclosures have we had in this nation? Many people let their houses go willingly because they felt they would never get out from under the mortgage. Did they figure they would stay in that home thirty years, and by then the prices would be back to more than what they would need to recover? Many did not; they just left themselves go into foreclosure.
Consider the sheer number of families that filled garages with four wheelers that were used just to burn gas. How many used leaf blowers instead of rakes? How many people ran up their credit card with fancy vacations, expensive clothes and eating out? The list of this affluenza is long and cuts a wide swath.
Let’s take desperate people who are trying to save their business. Credit cards are coming in handy when banks aren’t loaning. Or let’s look at people who ran up their cards while there was an illness in the family. These are people who are trying to make a go of it, trying to survive. Stewardship, in these cases, are not the essence. It is survival. Stewardship is when you have plenty, things are going good, and you are taking care of it to provide for you in your old age.
After the 1930’s, there was a feeling in America that went something like this, “If I get money, I’m going to have fun with it,” or “Someday my children will be more prosperous than me and enjoy everything that life has to give them.” America was the land of plenty, and we could keep up with the goods that the person next door would have.
The only good thing that has come out fo this recession is that this current generation is going to become more conscientious about money stewardship. It is inevitable. More people are gardening, fewer folks are eating out, and people are shopping at second hand stores for clothing. As a result, these people are paying down their debt, establishing a savings, and learning to take better care of their resources.
Eventually prosperity will return to our nation. But the people between the ages of fifteen and sixty will remember these times and take better care of their finances. In the end, it will make our nation stronger.
