The wicked borrows
but does not pay back,
but the righteous
is generous and gives
Psalm 37:21
ESV
A day or two ago, we called debt “legalized slavery.”
Financially, do you know the only thing worse? It’s not paying it back. You still owe the debt -- which means you’re still a slave -- but now you’re compromising your integrity too. You’re cheating the person who was generous to you.
That’s why in God’s plan for financial health, repaying debt should be our second highest priority (after “repaying” our debt to God himself by giving generously back to the one who creates and sustains us).
Yes, repaying is more important than spending.
I know, I know, you could probably come up with scenarios in which there’s a famine and your children are literally starving and you’re definitely going to buy food for your baby before you repay a loanshark. Me too. But if you’re wealthy enough to read this on a computer, you’re one of the richer people in history ... even if you “feel” poor. And under normal circumstances -- i.e. no World War or desperate famine -- then repaying is a higher priority than spending.
Yes, there are crises that throw our normal spending plan into chaos. But that’s why we abide by God’s spending plan the other 98% of the time. If we’re wise -- week-after-week, month-after-month, year-after-year -- then crises rarely spell desperation. We’re ready. We’re prepared.
So, with all that said, repaying is generally more important than anything except giving to God.
· Repaying -- even if it’s step-by-step -- releases us from the shackles of slavery and debt.
· Repaying keeps in check the disease of rampant materialism. For if we seek our solace in things, we’re not entrusting our care to God. (Indeed, “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” -- Matthew 6:33.)
· Repaying also helps us maintain our integrity. When we refuse to repay, we are basicallytthieves ... even if our lender was first thieving from us with the outrageous and deceptive lending practices that they had. (Being naive and gullible is not an excuse to steal back.)
· Furthermore, prioritizing repayment also keeps us away from additional debt (and additional slavery). For example, you should never put more on a charge card, until the previous month(s) were completely paid off.
Yes, repaying is more important financially than anything but our tithes and offerings. And that’s the consistent witness of scripture ...
· Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you. (Proverbs 3:28)
· It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. (Ecclesiastes 5:5)
· If a man ... swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. (Numbers 30:2)
· You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. (Leviticus 19:11)
· Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:7-8)
Question: How do you need to restructure your budget, to make repaying more important than continued spending and increasing debt?
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who doesn’t
have to repay much
because he won’t ever
borrow much
No comments:
Post a Comment