By Pastor Jomo Cousins, Ph.D.
Romans 13:8 (MSG):
8 Don’t run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other.
Our country is a terrible model for debt management because our national debt has been exploding. As a result, many individuals and businesses find it easy to follow the nation’s trend of getting into debt themselves. Debt is dangerous because it takes us out of control. Whoever holds our debt has power over us.
Debt often forces people to make poor decisions when trying to figure out how to repay it. I know there was a season in my life where I was in terrible debt and I was robbing Peter to pay Paul. The stress and anxiety that came with that season was unbearable. Now, I know the other side—being debt-free—and the peace and freedom that come with it.
The best policy is if you can’t afford it, don’t get it! Or, if you do decide to borrow, make sure you take way below the maximum amount you are allowed to borrow. The Bible tells us that the borrower is a servant to the lender (Prov 22:7, NLT). The last thing we should do is put ourselves in that particular position unnecessarily.
According to Business Insider (Kane, 2016), an interesting fact is that the word ‘mortgage’ actually means ‘death pledge.’ The term was originally used in British courts back in the Middle Ages. It referred to a loan ending or ‘dying’ either when it was fully paid or when a property was repossessed for nonpayment. Do not let debt be the death of your business. The goal in business is always to have more account receivables than account payables!
Prayer:
Lord, help me to walk a lifestyle of financial freedom and give me the wisdom to avoid putting myself in financial bondage. Lord, I pray for the finances to pay all my debts in a timely fashion, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Except from: 60 Prayers in 60 Seconds, Page 25.
