Many people try to outsmart biblical instruction from the LORD by using debt as leverage to get themselves into continually better social and financial positions. However, before long the vast majority get themselves into horrible financial trouble. They fail to understand that unsuspecting, irresponsible, foolish people are pulled into the financial abyss by highly leveraging debt to get material things and business success they want. There is a small percentage of people who seem to get away with it and this leads many others into a place of bondage when they try to copy those they see doing it.
The psalmist said thoughts of envy almost caused his foot to slip after he saw the prosperity of the wicked. He thought about doing things their way, but then it dawned on him that their way was not pleasing nor glorifying to the LORD because it was not in accordance with His instruction and thus would not last the test of time. While a few might experience vast material surplus on earth, their reckless indifference to prospering using His pattern would result in many of them slowly moving away from intimacy with Him and causing others to do the same. Thus, forgetting they should first and foremost do what they do in a way that identifies them as citizens of a heavenly kingdom who justly gain and utilize money to serve His purposes as opposed to serving Mammon by gaining and utilizing it primarily for pleasure and notoriety.
Sometimes, Congress and the president are also culpable in that they have through legislation encouraged businesses to offer unreasonable levels of credit to people who are not trustworthy or who simply don’t really have the income to handle long-term payments. The 2008 market meltdown was a result of bad government regulation and business decision-making many years earlier with regard to debt.
The unreasonable credit offerings pushed so much money in the market that it had the effect of making it look like everything was booming for a long time. It pushed the value of homes and merchandise to levels that were really unreasonable for many to pursue. For years some bad actors considered the situation a win that would result in huge economic growth rates and great profits. They believed they could not lose because the appreciation of the properties and merchandise would continue to increase enormously year after year. In order to get far more out of customers they offered loans that caused payments to rise every few years. Also, they provided no documentation loans in which they trusted the person's indication of his/her income and financial condition instead of getting proof the person indeed made enough income to faithfully make long-term payments. These efforts to reap additional profits without developing products that would not make the borrower a slave to the lender led some financial institutions and many people into financial bondage, foreclosure, repossession, bankruptcy, and despair.
If all sides (individuals, businesses, and the government) really put their trust in God, in accordance with the principle written across our currency, they would understand reliance on debt creates a toxic situation for those who unreasonably and excessively engage it. Unfortunately, many people think (1) the bible is to be quoted but not followed, (2) humans’ way of managing money trumps employing biblical principles, (3) even unreasonable consumer spending is the grease that oils the economic engine, and (4) a nation can take care of problems and bondage caused by over-utilization of debt by providing more loans and doing all they can to have the government infuse more loan inducing regulations and appropriations into business markets.
Many make pursuit of greater sales numbers each year their priority, instead of focusing people on God’s will and purpose and making sure their business pursuits do the same. They encourage people to excessively seek the American Dream of having more, bigger, and better no matter the current cost. This leads people to take on more debt to achieve the dream, which they can never really achieve or be satisfied with because there is always bigger and better to go after. Feelings of discontentment swell within them and many fail to be thankful for what they have because they always believe they should have more right now.
Ultimately, the vast majority of people get humbled and suffer consequences of not employing biblical principles in their lives. If we’ll learn our lesson by understanding the insidious nature of debt, then by faith with action we’ll avoid it and encourage others to do the same. We’ll protect one another by proclaiming the truth concerning debt and the bondage it puts a person in.
It’s time we learned that more debt will not undo current debt bondage. It may seem to relieve it for a moment, but eventually we find the monkey is not off our back and the problem has only gotten worse. Where there is a will, each entity can be built around debt freedom and work hard to eliminate debt and get on sound financial footing. Yes, it produces short-term pain because of the huge appetite for meaningless things we have built within ourselves over many years. Yet, in the long run debt freedom is the best financial situation any entity could be in.
I pray the LORD blesses our nation, yet one cannot be blessed in the great manner it otherwise could be if its citizens, and leaders they select, think they’re smarter than Almighty God and continue to habitually violate biblical principles. Ultimately, the consequences of choosing the wrong path negatively affects the makers of bad decisions causing great hardship. The bible says let God’s word be true and every man a lie. He desires that we seek Him through Jesus Christ and learn to obey His commands so we can be redeemed, blessed, and rewarded forevermore.
Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!
Deuteronomy 28:12, 44, Proverbs 13:18, 22:6-7, 26, Romans 13:8
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