PROVERBS 22:7
Growing up, my father, who was a banker and an accountant would always tell us that “he who go a-borrowing, go a-sorrowing.”
Solid financial planning is crucial to a peaceful Christian life. We should opt for debt-free living whenever possible.
The Bible says that the debtor is the servant of the lender (Proverbs 22:7). This has always been true. It is a great tragedy to have to borrow money to pay for current expenses, to live beyond your means.
Those who do not live within their means and borrow to meet day-to-day expenses end up being the slaves of those who lend to them. They do not have peace, and very often their lives are torn apart. Some marriage counselors and financial consultants have declared that about 80 percent of marriage failure is caused by money pressure and that money problems account for about 50 percent of the impotence in married men. Living beyond your means, which results in debt, can be destructive.
There are however some types of debt that financial experts have tried to justify. For example, borrowing allows a business to buy equipment, buildings, and land, and to expand in an appropriate fashion. Mortgage payments are not considered by some as debt but as a monthly budgeted expense.
Of course, the happiest people in this regard are those who have no debt on anything, who have paid cash for their cars, their furniture, and their houses, and who have funded their businesses out of either equity or cash flow. These people are better off in times of recession or even in times of widespread inflation.
Two important points to note:
(i) While the Bible offers many warnings about the dangers of debt, it never says that you are out of God’s will or violating one of God’s commandments when you borrow.
(ii) Some Christians who are heavily in debt seem to believe that God has promised to get them out of their problems. The verse they usually point to is Philippians 4:19. It is true that God will meet our needs – in the way He knows is best. But He has not promised to cancel the consequences of our unwise behaviour if we choose to become ‘professional borrowers’.
