A Word About Debt and Borrowing

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Yes, yes, I know it is very tempting to get into debt, to borrow money.  Especially with all these Government insentives for people to upgrade their cars, houses and appliances.  A few years ago, we prayed for a friend who was undecided about going to college.  We encouraged her but we did not know that she went ahead and got loans to pay her way through college.  Surprisingly to me, this was a Christian College that provided the loan.  How can a Christian college be violating God's principle of not borrowing and slaving God's people.  Especially those seeking a ministry would most probably get funded by donations which tends to be a conservative income. How can they start their ministry in debt?

Debt is the condition of being in bondage to another person.   It is to be obligated to pay back what is owned.  It is allowing a nother person to have a claim against you.

A debt creates a relationship of servitude to a creditor.

In the Old Testament, loans in Israel were charitable, not commercial.  The charging of any kind of interest to fellow Israelites was forbidden.  However, interest could be charged to foreigners.  (Deuteronomy 23:20)

Consequences of Borrowing

1. It violates Scripture.  Romans 13:8


2. It constitutes a judgment of God.  God clearly relates borrowing to His judgment upon His people for failing to follow His ways.  Deuteronomy 28:15, 44


3. It produces bondage to creditors.  Proverbs 22:7


4. It presumes upon the future.  Oh, how we have learned this the hard way.   We had bought a house on high mortgage thinking our income would go up.  The opposite happened.  We went to zero income and we had to short sale the house.


5. It gives the illusion of independence.  It allows final decisions to be made apart from God's provision of funds.


6. It evades self-examination.  When God withholds funds, there is a good reason.


7. It interferes with God's provision.  2 Corinthians 16:9


8. It removes barriers to harmful items.  James 4:3, 1 Timothy 6:9


9. It demonstrates discontent with basics.  2 Timothy 6:10


10. It devours resources through high interest payments.  Luke 16:10-11


11. It stifles resourcefulness


12. It promotes impulse buying


13. It damages God's reputation


14. It weakens personal faith.  A clear evidence of God's will can be obtained by trusting God to provide the funds ahead of time. 


15. It excludes help from others.


16. It causes overspending

My husband and I did a deep study of finances and debt with the Financial Freedom Seminar.  In our deepest financial despair, we found God's mercy and wisdom in His Word.  How we wished we had understood and obeyed His Word.  We will share some stories here when I get to it.