The credit score rating is a rip-off — and It’s Retaining You in Monetary Bondage

Okay, so in the event you can’t inform from that title, that is going to be an article the place I’m not pulling any punches and sharing an unusual opinion.

However stick with me as a result of I consider it is a enormous mindset change that we as Christians want to grasp. So beginning with the reality I want I’d have identified earlier:

Your credit score rating is NOT an indication of monetary energy.

It’s really a scorecard for the way effectively you’ve performed the lender’s sport.

We’ve been skilled to chase a quantity that was by no means designed to assist us win — solely to maintain us borrowing, paying curiosity, and staying “simply accountable sufficient” to remain caught.

And while you lastly do the clever factor — pay off debt, lower up the playing cards, and stroll away — the system punishes you for it.

Why? Because you stopped being worthwhile to them.

They Constructed a Sport The place Debt Is the Objective — and You’re Purported to Really feel Like You’re Profitable

And so a credit score rating isn’t about wealth. It’s about debt.

You get rewarded for:

• Retaining credit score traces open (even once they tempt you)
• Making minimal funds (not getting out of debt)
• Utilizing credit score usually (to allow them to cost you curiosity)

You don’t get rewarded for:

In truth, in the event you shut your closing bank card, your rating would possibly drop — and most of the people panic.

Not as a result of they’re in a worse monetary place… however as a result of they had been taught that the quantity is the reality.

Right here’s how damaged that is:

I bear in mind listening to Dave Ramsey level out as soon as that he might purchase a whole residence advanced with money, however as a result of he doesn’t carry debt or play by the credit score system, his rating is technically so “unhealthy” that he couldn’t even get accredited to lease one of many models.

So how absurd is it you can personal the constructing outright, however not qualify to stay there?

That’s how upside-down the system is.

And worry is the Glue That Retains the System Collectively

You’ve most likely heard the warnings:

• “In case you shut that account, your rating will drop.”
• “You’ll by no means qualify for a mortgage with out it.”
• “You must use credit score to construct credit score.”

All of it’s designed to maintain you anxious and dependent. However how totally different does this sound…

“Don’t conform to the sample of this world, however be remodeled by the renewing of your thoughts.” –Romans 12:2

That is the sample of the world — worry, stress, management. However God’s system results in peace, margin, and freedom.

The World’s System vs. God’s Means

Let’s zoom out.

The credit score rating is only one piece of a a lot larger puzzle — an entire system the world has constructed round cash that’s rooted in worry, stress, and infinite striving.

Right here’s what the world’s system produces:

• Worry-based choices. You’re at all times second-guessing — “Will this harm my rating? What if I can’t qualify? Ought to I simply open one other account?” Worry drives every part.
• Continual stress. Even in the event you’re “doing effectively,” you by no means really feel safe. There’s at all times a fee due, an rate of interest rising, a invoice ready.
• Comparability and disgrace. You measure your success by what different individuals have (even when they’re drowning in debt). In case you’re not upgrading, you’re falling behind.
• Dependency. You are feeling caught — such as you want the system. You consider you’ll be able to’t buy a car, get a house, or transfer ahead with out taking part in their sport.
• Efficiency stress. Your price is tied to a quantity. Not how clever or trustworthy you’re — simply how good you look on paper.

And right here’s the wild half: the system makes you are feeling like the issue. Like you’re not disciplined sufficient. You’re not savvy sufficient. You simply don’t know how one can “leverage” debt the suitable method.

However the reality is, the system isn’t damaged. It’s rigged.

It was by no means constructed to steer you to peace. It was constructed to maintain you on the hook.

God’s system is radically totally different.

• You’re not outlined by a rating. You’re a steward of what He’s entrusted to you — not a pawn in another person’s revenue plan.
• Cash is a software, not a lure. You handle it with intention, not anxiousness.
• Contentment is energy. You’re not chasing the following improve. You’re residing in peace and objective proper the place you’re.
• Freedom is the aim. You’re not tied to lenders. You’re out there to be beneficiant, versatile, and prepared when God says transfer.
• Knowledge and faithfulness matter most. God doesn’t reward flashy. He honors trustworthy.

One system income off your bondage.

The opposite invitations you into freedom.

God doesn’t want you to impress a financial institution.

He’s not involved with whether or not you’ve received an 820 or a 520.

What He does care about is the way you’re managing what you’ve been given.

With knowledge. With faithfulness. With eternity in thoughts.

You don’t want a rating to be trusted. You want character and readability.

That’s what issues. That’s what lasts.

The Phantasm of Profitable Is Nonetheless Shedding

The entire system is designed to make you are feeling such as you’re getting forward… so long as you keep contained in the traces.

You repay one card? They increase your restrict.

You make funds on time? They give you extra playing cards.

They preserve the carrot simply far sufficient forward to maintain you working.

However let’s be clear:

Freedom isn’t present in a excessive rating.

It’s present in not needing one in any respect.

So, Ought to You Simply Ignore It?

I want the reply had been a easy “sure”. But it surely’s not that straightforward.

By God’s grace, Linda and I’ve gotten to the place the place I genuinely don’t care what my rating is as a result of we don’t want it.

We don’t have any debt and by no means plan on borrowing once more. (That is my prayer for you by the way in which).

But it surely took us a very long time to get up to now, and the actual fact is, we nonetheless stay in a world the place your credit score rating impacts issues like insurance coverage charges, leases, and even job purposes.

So you’ll be able to’t at all times decide out chilly turkey.

However you can cease letting it name the pictures.

• So cease obsessing over the quantity.
• Don’t let worry of your rating preserve you in debt.
• Construct precise monetary energy — financial savings, peace, margin.
• Make choices primarily based on knowledge, not the way it’ll “look” in your report.

You’ll be able to work throughout the system with out bowing to it.

God Didn’t Name You to Play by Their Guidelines

You weren’t created to be a superb little borrower.

You had been created to stay in freedom.

Your price doesn’t come from being “creditworthy.”

Your legacy isn’t outlined by your means to manage debt.

Your monetary future isn’t secured by a rating — it’s constructed by faithfulness, self-discipline, and daring belief in God’s methods.

You’ll be able to stroll away from their sport.

You can pay off the card, shut the account, and take the hit to your rating — understanding it’s successful to a system that by no means served you anyway.

And as you do, you’ll discover one thing no credit score rating can provide: peace.

“It’s for freedom that Christ has set us free.” – Galatians 5:1

That freedom contains your cash.

It contains your mindset.

And it begins the second you cease letting a damaged system let you know what “profitable” appears to be like like.

Your pal and coach,