Credit Score

# Credit Score

Each year, at the beginning of the new year, people typically take time to reflect on the past year to see what needs to be corrected, modified, or improved in the year ahead. This is a good habit for living better in the new year. Each person has different matters to consider and improve. In our daily lives, we usually review our expenses and finances to plan our spending so we don't fall short and end up in debt to the bank. Not only do business people need to do this—we also need to review what remains in our personal account, how much debt we still carry, and how we need to improve our finances so we don't experience the worry of monthly shortfalls and have to pay high-interest debt on our credit cards. To avoid the unfortunate situation of falling into debt, banks have offered several pieces of advice to their customers that we can learn from and apply. According to Austin Kilgore, an analyst at the Achieve Consumer Research Center—a research center of the digital personal finance company Achieve—focusing on three important numbers can provide better clarity and motivation for your finances in the new year.

The first is "Total Debt." Austin advises, "Start by listing all of your accounts and the amount you owe on each one. Beyond credit cards, personal loans, student loans, mortgages, and auto finance accounts, don't forget to include buy now, pay later loans and any overdue debts on utility bills, mobile phone bills, or other bills." To better understand your situation, organize your list into two categories: long-term debt, such as mortgages and student loans, and short-term debt, like credit card debt. According to Austin, your personal goals and debt level can help determine the best course of action.(1) We should think carefully and pay off old debts before taking on new ones, and we should not accumulate too much debt or carry it long-term!

The second number is the insurance deductions taken from your paycheck (Payroll Deductions)—also called payroll deductions. These are necessary expenses. If you can make changes regarding health insurance, pre-tax spending accounts, and other benefits, you'll know how much money remains for your monthly expenses so you don't fall short, because spending beyond what you have left will create problems.

The third number is your "Credit Score." Because credit scores and credit reports are important tools that lenders use to assess a customer's creditworthiness, we need to check our credit score at the beginning of the year. Once we know our "credit score," we can make plans for the new year related to our finances. (We can use verification services like AnnualCreditReport.com to see our credit report, look for errors, and better understand the factors that make up our score, such as payment history and credit usage. "For most people, checking your credit report every week is probably unnecessary, unless you've just been a victim of identity theft or other forms of financial fraud," Mr. Kilgore says.)

But what about spiritual matters? These three important financial numbers can also be applied to our spiritual lives. First, the matter of "total debt"—we should only owe a debt of love, as the apostle Paul advised, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except for the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves their fellow human has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8). In Christ, believers often help one another because they love each other, and this is what God wants us to do—"love your neighbor" and help them unconditionally, without seeking personal gain. God is the one who gives us all things. When we have the ability and opportunity, we help our fellow believers willingly and unconditionally, just as Christ loved us, so we "also [should] love one another" (John 13:34).

Second, regarding payroll deductions—with gratitude to God, we need to set aside our portions, such as setting apart one tenth to give to His House, and we should also reserve finances so we can help one another when needed, knowing that God always knows and will bless us abundantly, as the apostle Paul advised his coworkers: "I have shown you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (Acts 20:35).

Third, our "credit score" is the "fruit of the Spirit" being produced and growing more abundantly—a steadfast faith in Jesus Christ! We don't do good works to gain recognition from others, but we are God's "stewards." He has given us spiritual gifts, material possessions, so that we manage and use them for God's work. God trusts us and uses us—making us instruments in God's hands to develop His House and spread the Gospel to all nations! Let us become "a good and faithful servant so that God is pleased and says to us, '...Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things'" (Luke 19:17). "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9); "...be firm, immovable, always giving yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Let us set goals for the new year: Always live glorifying God's Name—live selflessly toward all people; set aside possessions to give to God's House storehouse and help those in need; and live as a good and faithful servant, bearing more fruit of the Spirit than in the past year. Thank you, God, for always caring for us and bestowing all blessings upon us! We ask that God guide us, open our hearts and minds, so that we live in firm faith following Christ, knowing how to offer our time, money, and health, living as good and faithful servants to serve God and help others; so that our lives may express the love and saving Gospel of Christ for those around us to know that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of souls, the One who gives all things, and the only Way to the glorious Kingdom of Heaven forever! Amen!

Thank you, God, for always providing, Giving us resources and harvests, Nature, air, sunshine and rain, Happy families bright throughout the day! A New Year blessed in Christ, Truly joyful, with abundant grain and rice, Even when trials surround us, Our hearts know clearly: God is here, why worry!

We pray, O God, all-knowing and ever-present, Help us bear more fruit, Serving you early and late, Helping others come to know you, love you alone!

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