South Carolina Baptists must focus on their personal financial choices and avoid obsessing over national economic issues beyond their control.
That was the message from personal finance expert and former Wall Street reporter Lynette Khalfani-Cox while speaking at the Recession Obsession event May 12 at the South Carolina Baptist Convention Building. More than 110 attended the meeting and about 250 saw the event live through video streaming on the convention’s Web site.
Khalfani-Cox knows about personal financial choices. In 2002 she confronted her own $100,000 in personal credit card debt and made lifestyle choices to eliminate the debt while continuing to make payments on time.
She said people must focus on what they can control. “Do any of us have sway over the stock market, interest rates, property values, the rise and fall of a 401K? We can’t obsess over things we can’t control. We are too tied to the news, which leaves us despondent and depressed.”
She advised people to pray over all major decisions. “People are not going before the Lord before making major decisions,” she said. “And there’s no better guide for financial management than the Bible. Many who have gotten out of debt are following biblical guidelines for financial management.”