We can be in the chains of financial bondage basically in four ways: from lack of money, from spending more than what we have, from an abundance of money, and from misunderstanding the purpose of money or why God gave it to us.

Christian writer Larry Burkett in his article “Your Finances in Changing Times” (Christian Financial Concepts, 1975, Moody Press) identified several symptoms of financial bondage which he had found common among Christians. Now, thirty plus years later, these symptoms are still relevant and evident in the marketplace among businessmen and professionals, as well as in most levels of Philippine society. These symptoms include:

1. Overdue Bills. A Christian is in financial bondage when he experiences anxiety from overdue bills, usually resulting from overspending splurges and “trying to keep up with the Santos’”.
2. Investment Worries. Worrying over investments, savings, money, or assets also is a cause for financial bondage and can interfere with the Christian’s spiritual life.
3. “Get-Rich-Quick” Attitude. This attitude is characterized by attempts to make money quickly with very little applied effort. An investment is a “get-rich-quick” program if we assume excessive debt, borrow the money to invest, or deal deceitfully with people.
4. No Greediness. Gainful Employment. Someone who does not want to work for his living, who finds ways and means to get out of working gainfully, who can’t seem to hold onto a job for more than a week or so is in financial bondage. St. Paul said in 2 Thess 3:10, “If anyone will not work, he shall not eat.”
5. Deceitfulness. We are in financial bondage if we are dishonest in financial matters. Ask yourself: Am I honest and open with everyone?
6. Greediness. This is a serious cause of bondage to money and the things that money can buy. Some symptoms of greed are when someone always wants the best or always wants more than he has, or someone is never able to put others first, never able to accept a necessary loss, or is always looking at what others have, never being satisfied with what God has given him. Anyone who cannot put his own wants behind him to help satisfy the needs of others suffers from greed.
7. Covetousness. If we continually look at what others have and desire it, we are in financial bondage. We are also rejecting God’s commandment “Do not envy…”
8. Family Needs Unmet. A person is in financial bondage if, because of his buying habits (or drug habit, or addiction to alcohol and barkada nights, etc.), his family’s needs cannot be met. This can happen if he is chained with debts to the point that creditors take necessary family funds, or when his standard of living may demand ‘luxuries’ that deprive the family of its ‘needs’.
9. Unmet Christian needs. It is the responsibility of each Christian to supply the needs of others who cannot do so for themselves. Of course, God will not lead us to meet every need of every Christian, but we should be open to help those whom He directs us to help meet their basic needs. Remember the Typhoon Ondoy experience!
10. Over-Commitment to Work. This is one form of financial bondage that most of us are guilty of at one time or another in our lives. A life that is devoted to business pursuits, to the exclusion of all else, is a life of bondage. When it comes to the point that business or business-related activities are all we can talk about even with our family and friends, then we are experiencing some degree of financial bondage.
11. Lack of Commitment to God’s Work. We are in financial bondage if we have no financial commitment to God’s work. Basic Christian financial management can be found in Proverbs 3:9-10 and Malachi 3:10. It is only when we honor the Lord from the first part of our income that God can take control.
12. Financial Superiority. Someone who has wealth should think of it as not an honor or wealth rightfully earned (even though it has been gainfully and rightfully earned by worldly standards), but as a responsibility. We are stewards of God’s abundant riches here on earth. Read about King David’s principles of stewardship in 1 Chronicles 29:10-19 to help in getting your priorities in order.
13. Financial Resentment. The converse of superiority is resentment, thinking God has not given us what we feel that we deserve or what we desire. We become resentful of our station in life with this resentment becoming a form of bondage because it prevents the grace and power of God to work in our lives fully.

St. Paul teaches us how to overcome financial bondage in 1 Timothy 6:3-19. We would be prudent to read, study and internalize well Paul’s admonitions as by following them we would be able to avoid finding ourselves succumbing to varying degrees of financial bondage. –NRC [KAP, O-N 91]