Getting out of debt (1)

2 Kings 6:5 “Alas, master! for it was borrowed.”

You will never experience real peace of mind if you remain in debt.  Debt is bondage. The wise writer of the book of Proverbs wrote, “…the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7).

To be in debt is to be in bondage mentally, spiritually and socially. Your mind cannot be free to think constructively and wisely when it is filled with thoughts of debt.  Your spirit is disquieted, cast down and heavy when you have a debt that you cannot settle.  Indebtedness limits your social life. There are places you cannot visit lest you meet your creditor.  There are phone calls that you avoid answering.

In addition to loss of liberty and peace, you grow in the sins of lying and deceit. No wonder why the Bible abounds with scriptures that discourage being in debt. Concerning being in debt Paul wrote in Romans 13:8, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law”.

This scripture is quite scary. We find it difficult to live or operate business without getting loans or credits. If we take it literally to mean that we should never use credit, then we will find it really impossible for us mortals to apply this scripture in real life.  However, the rendering of another Bible version makes it clear and possible to apply it.  That Bible version puts it this way, “Let no debt remain unpaid.” 

In other words, you can use credit but you must pay it back.  If you do not pay what you owe, the Bible calls you a wicked person. Psalms 37:21 reads, “The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.”

If you have borrowed money or something else and completely failed to pay back, then know that you are wicked in that respect.  Repentance and restitution are required. It does not have to be money that you owe that makes you wicked.

Anything that you owe and that remains unpaid makes you wicked. The best is to return borrowed things at the agreed time and in good order. Beloved, it is wisdom for you to see things in God’s perspective.  What God says is wrong or evil, treat it the same.

What God calls right or good, treat it the same. It is moral blindness to run contrary to God’s estimate of things. Debt is not a convenience but an inconvenience. Debt is not an asset but a liability. Debt must not be the first thing to think of but a last resort. Your attitude towards debt or borrowing must be a grudging one.

You only take it when forced to by desperate circumstances. Even in desperate situations you should take it grudgingly, unwillingly with fear and trembling knowing that you can lose your soul because of it. This was the attitude of one of the sons of prophet who cried to Elisha, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.”  It was a desperate cry for help knowing the thing belonged to someone else and must be returned in good order.What is your attitude towards debt?

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