Break Free From Credit Card Bondage

"Debt is bondage," says Tina Hunter. "It really is. And you feel it. It weighs you down. You just carry it around."

Tina Hunter of Orting, Washington knows! By the time she got out of high school, there was one thing she had mastered.

"I'll take it. Charge it."

It was the art of spending money - on credit.

"I could get a credit card anywhere," Tina remembers, "so I didn't really know what the repercussions of it was since I never handled the bills. So I just bought new furniture. I bought my friends clothes. I remember one Christmas I got my girlfriend a diamond necklace. I bought another friend a car stereo on my credit because I could."

Before she knew it, Tina had racked up over $10,000 in credit card debt. Her strategy to pay it off? Very unrealistic!

"At the time, I just thought I'd make minimum payments on it until it was paid off, not realizing it was going to take 20 years to do it.

Collection companies wouldn't leave Tina alone.

"The creditors were awful, they would call all the time, at all hours of the day. I finally shut my house phone off and just used my cell phone so they couldn't get a hold of me anymore."

Maxed out on credit and unable to qualify for any more, Tina got a job at a casino. Pushing her debt aside, she began living solely on cash. Meanwhile the interest on her credit card bills skyrocketed.

"I realized when I pulled up my credit card report, I'm $25,000 in debt, and I didn't see a way possible for me to get out, because it's just overwhelming."

That's when Tina cried out to God.

"I knew there was a God," Tina declares. "I knew since I was a kid that He existed, but I didn't know how to apply Him to my life. So I just prayed and said, 'God, I need you. Show me how to do it. I don't know how to do it. Show me how."

In his mercy, God came to Tina's rescue. He became personal to her and taught her some basic financial principles that changed Tina's life.

"When I started going to church I started learning about tithing and giving. I also watched Pat on TV, and learned about the Law of Reciprocity."

Tina cut back on her spending, and by faith began tithing, joined The 700 Club, and started paying off her debt — all at the same time. Tina was even able to negotiate with credit card companies to reduce her overall debt.

"I prayed to have favor," Tina remembers, "and I had favor with all of them. I was able to settle for half, if not less than half of the total amount."

Within a year and a half, Tina was debt free.

"I am so happy I'm debt free. It's like a big burden was lifted off of me. God made a way. We have to give him our first fruits. He says that this is the only area that we can test God in. He says let Me prove to you if I will not open up the windows of heaven and poor you down a blessing that your storehouse can't even contain."

That's just what God did for Tina. While she was in debt, she had prayed for a house and a new job. She got both. Within two years, Tina opened up her own mortgage company, and today she owns her own home. All because she surrendered her finances to God and began faithfully giving to His kingdom.

"I think giving is the key to why I'm debt free right now. God wants to stretch us a little bit, and sometimes it hurts to be pulled and to stretch yourself and give first before you do your bills. Give unto the Lord first and then see what He will do for you. Give and it will be given back to you. God's word is true."

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