I was just recently reminiscing with my wife about some of the financial challenges we have overcome since we have been married. We both have been stretched in ways that we didn’t necessarily enjoy, but that were ultimately good for us. We both were world-class spenders who needed to learn how to tell ourselves NO. As painful as it was to convert from the “I gotta have it now” to “I will save up for it” mindset, I now understand the necessity and tremendous value in making that change.

We used to live above our means, spending more than we had coming in, only making us poorer each and every day. We have progressed to living at our means and currently living below our means, allowing us to finally get to a point where we can build wealth rather than building debt!

For me, I always thought I understood money. In reality I just didn’t know what I didn’t know. Seeing that my life was a financial mess I had a choice. I could either continue in my pride and act as if I had it all figured out or I could admit that I really didn’t know what I was doing. Thankfully I chose the latter. Just making that admission of a lack of understanding allowed me to start seeking information that would help me make the necessary changes.

I started reading magazines, books, taking classes, and quickly realized how ignorant I really was about how money worked. I fought against overwhelming feelings and focused on making one small change to my finances at a time. I realized that I spent a lot of cash in vending machines, so I decided to not carry cash any more. It was a very painful first step. It seems silly to me now, but thinking back on it I remember feeling as if I hadn’t eaten in a week and my stomach was crying out for a Snickers as I passed the vending machine. Knowing my level of will-power I would have caved and continued to spend $5-$10 a week in the vending machine, but the decision had already been made. I didn’t have a single dollar in my wallet, so it really didn’t matter how bad I wanted it.

As I began to take additional steps towards getting out of debt, I noticed that preventing temptation rather than overcoming it was a key to my success. Just like with the vending machine, I knew that I was not strong enough to say no in the heat of the moment. However, if I had a plan to prevent the temptation from ever occurring (by not having any cash) I could defeat it.

Eliminating points of temptation has been one of the most painful steps, but also one of the most crucial for my journey to financial freedom. If you are anything like me, I encourage you to take an honest look at your weaknesses and find ways to overcome them.

After learning many financial lessons the “hard way,” Bob started ChristianPF.com. The site focuses on the Biblical principles that apply to debt, saving money, making money, investing, and all other areas of personal finance. For more information or to get the free daily newsletter, visit http://www.christianpf.com/.

Bob writes the Christian Personal Finance blog, where his goal is to provide advice, tips, tools, insights from scripture, and personal investment advice in order to help others master their finances. He can be reached at bob@christianpf.com.