Enslaved by Debt

The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.
Proverbs 22:7

Are you being used by God? Is there anything in your life that prevents God from using you? Often, we put stumbling blocks in our own life that prevents us from being used by God and receiving His blessings. One of these blocks is the use of debt.

When my brother and I were kids I regrettably borrowed a few dollars from him to by a coveted Willie Mays baseball card with the agreement that I would be him back a dollar a week from my lawn mowing money until it was paid off. Well, in the few weeks that it took to pay back that debt my brother never let me forget that loan! Every time he needed a favor, he would remind me, "Remember, I let you borrow that money..." or if he wanted to make me feel guilty he would say, "Well! See if I ever let you borrow money again!" You can't imaging how good it felt when I finally paid him back every last cent and got him off my back. I quickly learned never to borrow from a family member again. Too bad I didn't apply that lesson learned to other debt as well.

In this Proverbs passage, we are warned that the 'borrower is servant to the lender.' How true that is today just as it was hundreds of years ago when it was written. When we borrow money we are trapped into paying that back, usually with interest as well. We become indebted to our lender, our debt becomes a liability. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, Liability is defined as: 'something that holds one back; a handicap.'

When we owe money to banks for our cars and our house, and have credit card bills to pay because we charged our vacations, furniture, gifts, and dining out we have an obligation to repay these debts. When we are obligated to not only work, but may have to work overtime or second job to pay back these loans, we are not able to devote our time to serving the Lord. Also, having these debts hovering over our heads like a cloud of doom brings stress and possibly even health problems along with it.

Imagine would you could accomplish if you were totally free of debt and didn't have to work, or at least didn't have to work as much. You could be free to serve as a missionary for the Lord in far off countries. You could volunteer at your local church. You could be free to do something that you actually enjoy doing instead of something that you have to do.

The Lord views debt as a means of slavery. Jesus died to pay the debt for our sins, He freed us from that bondage. Going into debt is forsaking that freedom. If you are currently in debt, make a choice to never borrow money again and start working towards true financial freedom right now.