Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 NLT
It’s easy to get caught up in the common behaviors and customs of our society: buying a new car when a new model you love comes out; continually upgrading to a larger, fancier home; making a lot of spontaneous purchases even though you don’t need the items. Rather than focusing on filling our lives with things that our society views as valuable, God calls us to fill them with things that he believes are valuable – love, peace, generosity, compassion, and grace, to name a few.
Family from a kid's perspective (Google Images)
I recently met a man named George who is consciously choosing to resist some customs of our society for the benefit of his family. He has four kids between ages one and eight, so I was shocked when he told me that his family lives in a small condominium that does not have a yard.
“Wow, that must be hard to live in such a small space and not have a yard with that many kids,” I said.
He responded, “Actually, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Living in such close proximity to one another has made us very close. Our kids really love each other and realize that they have an amazing mother and siblings.”
George then told me some stories about the love they experience in their everyday lives; his face was glowing the entire time he spoke.
What custom or behavior of our society have you chosen to not follow and how did that decision positively impact your family and/or faith walk?
Song for Mediation: http://www.amazon.com/Only-The-World/dp/B000TEB646/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1314027210&sr=1-1
Life as Written 
One thing we’ve chosen to do that is a departure from the “ways of this world” and more in line with God’s plan is to completely eliminate debt from our life. We’ve paid off all credit cards and our cars, and we’re almost done paying off all of my student loans. We will be DEBT FREE as of the end of the year. (We’ll get to the mortgages next!) People sometimes look at you like you’re crazy when you don’t have a credit card, and often services such as hotels or rental car companies will charge a debit card differently than a credit card. The nation lives completely off of debt, and when you start to look at things differently it is amazing how flawed it is. For instance, all credit applications (in particular home mortgages and apartment rentals) are based on a “FICO” score, which in reality is a “debt” score. You have to have been in debt to even have a FICO score! Once you get completely out of debt and do not get into new debt, your FICO score actually gets worse instead of better. It is ridiculous.
Thank you to Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University (also called Total Money Makeover) for saving our financial lives!!
This is sooo amazing. I am ready for the day when I can burn my student loan documents that I’ve been holding on to for 11 years. You are such an inspiration. Go John and Marisa!!
George has an awesome perspective! And I’m with Marisa, Dave Ramsey’s TMM made a huge difference in our lives.
I’m beginning to think that Dave Ramsey is someone worth checking out . . . . Thanks for sharing, Jeff.