Wednesday: Saying No to Debt
Read Deuteronomy 28:12. What does this teach us about getting into too much debt? What principle do we see at work here?
It’s just common sense to avoid debt as much as you can. Scripture discourages us from cosigning other people’s debts as well (Prov. 17:18, Prov. 22:26). Debt leverages the future and obligates us to submit to its demands from our position of financial weakness.
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It is a smooth elixir that Christians find difficult to decline and manage. Debt may not be immoral, but it does not strengthen our spiritual life.
“There must be a strict regard to economy or a heavy debt will be incurred. Keep within bounds. Shun the incurring of debt as you would shun leprosy.” – Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 272.
Debt can become financial bondage that makes us a “servant to the lender” (Prov. 22:7). Because debt is so intertwined with the fabric of our economic world, we think of it as just the norm. After all, whole nations exist on debt; why shouldn’t individuals do the same thing? This is a wrong attitude to have.
“Make a solemn covenant with God that by His blessing you will pay your debts and then owe no man anything if you live on porridge and bread. It is so easy in preparing your table to throw out of your pocket twenty-five cents for extras. Take care of the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves. It is the mites here and the mites there that are spent for this, that, and the other, that soon run up into dollars. Deny self at least while you are walled in with debts. . . . Do not falter, be discouraged, or turn back. Deny your taste, deny the indulgence of appetite, save your pence and pay your debts. Work them off as fast as possible. When you can stand forth a free man again, owing no man anything, you will have achieved a great victory.” – Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 257.
Debt is a weak foundation for Christians to stand on. It can do damage to our spiritual experience and impact our ability to fund God’s work. It robs us of our ability to give to others with confidence and steals opportunities for God’s blessings.
| What are some choices you can make right now that could help you avoid any unnecessary debt? What might you need to deny yourself of in order to stay out of debt? |
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I believe Christ wants us to be free from sin as well as free from the slavery of debt. There's a lot of practical wisdom in
That's pretty much how I was brought up, and I am grateful to my parents for laying such a strong foundation to avoid debt. It's possible to live on very little when one is entirely free from debt. But how many are willing to live on "porridge and bread" to be free of debt? Even adding potatoes and beans to the diet will not change the suggestion much, except that it would be more healthful. 😉
In the western world we live in such abundance that we take the regular consumption of imported and out-of-season foods for granted. Several generations ago, people could only eat what grew locally, what was in season, and what they preserved. And they survived and may have been more healthy than their modern counterparts. Perhaps the easiest place to save would be in the food department?
Thanks for the thoughts, Mrs Anderson! I have thought about your idea many times, I mean saving in the food department. It is so difficult sometimes to make good choices with food if we decide to be on the new fancy "gluten free" or "low-carb" or "flavor-free"... just kidding.
I like to eat healthy and I have found that sometimes I have to make the choice of stressing out over food, or just do the best I can and spent that time with family rather than in the kitchen.
I am a fan of microwave foods. I know they are not as healthy, but I can add a big salad and/or and egg, and it least I feel its a decent meal, rather than eating out and spending too much money.
Debt! End it now by God's grace.
It will eat you from the inside out, debt will with worry.
We should all be thankful for what God has provided for us.......
He only gives what's sufficient enough for us.......
Debt should be avoided wherever possible especially for non capital expenditures. It is one thing that a lot of people remain trapped in for the rest of their lives. A lot of people are keeping jobs that they dont love in order to remain able to service debts. We should cultivate the culture of savings
We do need God to help us live wisely regarding lending/borrowing money! All we can must be done for us not to fall into debt. Real state is perhaps something most expensive to think about. Living faithfully with God may gives us knowledge on spending our income!
It just make good sense to AVOID owing money. Just be careful. And be bless.
There are some practical issues that are useful to consider here. I will raise a couple of them and give my perspective on them. Please be aware that I am speaking about the situation in Australia and some of these comments may not be applicable in your country. Hopefully the general principles are useful.
Home Ownership
Housing costs a lot of money and the total costs of owning a home or renting one are more-or-less of the same order. Most of us need to borrow money to buy a house because a house is typically worth several years income. Depending on your circumstances it makes sense to buy your home and take out a mortgage to do so. Providing you understand fully the issues involved with taking out a mortgage such a purchase is a useful investment in the security of your family.
There are circumstances where mortgages can go seriously wrong but prayer and the willingness to seek out sound advice before making such a commitment reduces the risk.
Credit Card Debt
Most of us in Australia use credit cards as our main means of purchase. In fact I use real money so infrequently now-a-days that I can put a $20 note in my wallet and it stays there for several months before I get around to using it. I use my credit card account for nearly all my purchases but there are two things I understand. (1) The amount of credit on my credit card is not the amount I can spend. I must spend less than my income. Credit is not money in the bank! (2)I transfer the money from my bank account to my credit card account as soon as the monthly statement comes in before they start charging me the exorbitant interest rates that credit card companies charge.
The real issue with many credit card users is that they see the credit limit as something that they can spend. When you use that credit limit as a line of credit without taking into account the cost of that credit, you can end up in serious trouble. I know of people who have multiple credit cards and have used their credit maximums and are using credit cards to pay off the debt on other credit cards. That does not work! National figures for Australia show that in general we are carrying an enormous debt on our credit cards. With interest rates for credit cards being around 20%pa that is a heavy burden on individuals.
Modern electronic purchasing is enormously convenient but good stewardship is necessary to ensure that it works for us and not against us.
Maurice, the way I see it, buying a house can be seen as an investment. However, people need to be careful not to take on a mortgage that is too high for them to pay easily. Preferably the mortgage payment should be not too much higher than rent for similar accommodations. In that case, the payments that would otherwise go towards rent can be seen as going into investment.
But a "second" mortgage taken on to pay off other debts is another thing altogether .. Responsible stewardship includes living within one's means - preferably using only 70% of income, with 10% going first to tithe, 10% going to savings, and 10% earmarked for offerings and helping others in need. I'm guessing that those who live on that plan will usually live as well or better than those who spend all they make every month.
(Confession here: We did not always see the value of saving 10%, other than paying for our house, and that makes life more difficult in our senior years. So this is a note to the young ones: Start saving 10% from all income, and your savings will grow and be there for you to use when you or the Lord need them.)
Proverbs.22: 7 … “the borrower is the servant of the lender “.Isn’t this ironic and so! So true. You take a mortgage for 20-30 years & even though you borrowed only 200,000.00 yet if you do not increase your payment monthly or modify the lone when possible at the end of the term agreed on you would have paid back as much as 3 x that amount, that is slavery .Therefore it is prudent if we must borrow as in the case of a mortgage let us repaid it as quickly as possible. We are stewards of all that God has given us. So let us use the money he gave us wisely.
Well, Doreen, in the case of a mortgage, with payments equivalent to rent - you own the house after paying for 30 years. If, instead of taking on a mortgage, you simply rent, you pay for 30 years and own nothing at the end. The key is to keep housing wants modest so as not to take on too high a mortgage. I remember when in my part of the world, a lot of people just walked away from their houses when interest rates rose close to 20%. Housing prices dropped and their house became worth less than what they owed. (Of course, they were no worse off than if they had paid similar amounts for rent.) This is an extreme example, but it should serve as a caution to taking on a high mortgage. Better to be more modest in housing wants and pay the mortgage off quickly by paying just a little extra each month, after making sure the terms of the mortgage allow it.
Ellen White said on the matter of debts “Make a solemn covenant with God that by His blessing you will pay your debts and then owe no man anything if you live on porridge and bread “.
This is to say when we have debts we must make personal sacrifice to pay back as quickly as possible. It is unfortunate that many of us are not willing to live within our means or willing to make the sacrifices to pay our debts and we go on being enslaved and financially burden. This is very unhealthy & can cause us to be physically & spiritually weak/sick. Many years ago I had a good working fridge but it was not attractive. I had gotten it in the house that I bought .A friend of mine (a SDA sister) said to me after a few years “it’s time you get rid of that fridge “. I responded to her when I can afford to buy one cash I will. I kept that fridge for 2 more years then I bought one for cash. A year later I gave it to a relative and bought a stainless steel cash to match other appliances but, by then I could afford to. My friend over the years has bought 3 houses and loss them all .The moral is, do not be bother by what others say or what the Jones have. Live within your means, make a commitment/ sacrifice to pay down your death. When possible avoid debt .Let us all be good stewards with what God has blessed us with.
indeed saying No to debt is inevitable for a christian who has in one way or the other learnt the lesson the hardway through experience, currently am going thro the burden of many debts accumulated over some time and indeed it sucks no hr passes before it crisscrosses my mind of all debtors i owe. learnt to depend now on God entirely since alot has changed in my lifestyle to first clear my debts.
Perhaps you've heard the saying: "champagne taste, beer income"? Having never partaken of either, it didn't mean much to me when first hearing it, but the lesson is clear isn't it? Since few are able to buy a home with cash, most will need to borrow the money. But how one lives will either increase the amount and duration of the debt or decrease it.
Notice the condition of the promise given in today's scripture: "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God."
The promise of Deut 28:12 is for those who walk in the ways of the Lord. God does not bless so we can live as the world lives.
Meek and lowly of heart will affect the entire life and every choice.
If the things of earth have not grown strangely dim, they will tempt and lead many into greater debt, leaving the cause of Truth without the needed support.
Deut 28:8-12 is one of the biblical passages which bother me alot. I mean, with the promises written here, why should we even be discussing borrowing for mortgage, borrowing for this and that in the first place? doesn't this passage say we will lend and not borrow, or is it that this promise has specific people to whom it was issued and we erroneously apply it to ourselves?
These blessings belong to all who meet the conditions through faith in God's "exceeding great and precious promises". Notice, there is no expiration date to this passage. However, we have until the close of probation to exercise saving faith.
Not needing to borrow is a blessing that comes to those who submit to the will of God, which means we must understand what it is(Eph 5:17). God will reveal this to any who seek Him with all their heart(Jer 29:13).
It is Dec. 2022, but I needed to return to this quarterly to remind me to separate my needs from my wants & besetting weights (Heb. 12:1) & willing contractual servanthood to lenders. Thank you so much for the comments on this timely topic.