Part Three: Debt is still not a sin!!

Thanks Anthony, Ernie and Keith for your comments.

Anthony, you mentioned that "...we have desires that we must limit, but rarely do and this is a cause of debt." We call this a lack of discipline or self control. It is interesting that you mention this as I have shared with many many people that I feel the key to getting our finances in order is discipline or self control. I further explain this by saying that we need discipline to recognize we may not be able afford this house, this car, this vacation or perhaps just going out to get pizza tonight. Once we recognize these limits, we need the discipline to act (or not act) upon them.

But what makes your point really interesting to me is what I heard a Christian preacher say about 5 years ago. (Although I am not 100% sure, I think it was John MacArthur.) He said that the key to living for Christ boils down to discipline. He went on to say that living for Christ involves the discipline to do what the Bible says and not what the world, flesh and Satan pulls us towards.

This speaker went on to say that this discipline is not something we get from the way we were raised or jogging or our work culture. It is something that comes from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23). And the same discipline that we need to handle our finances is the discipline we need to live for Christ in our daily walk.

It also helped me understand a little more what Jesus meant when he said in Luke 12:34 "Where your treasure is where your heart will be also". How we handle our money is not just a financial issue for a Christian; it is a spiritual issue. I believe that a good way for us to get a spiritual reading on our walk with the Lord is by looking at how we handle our money.

And Ernie, I think you are right on when you said that debt can cause us to miss an opportunity to see God demonstrate His faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 says "The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassion never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."

Looking back over our lives, how many times do we miss opportunities of seeing God prove Himself faithful? We miss these opportunities because we rush out and borrow money or buy things on credit as opposed to waiting on God to supply. Yes, God is faithful and debt can cause us to miss those opportunities of seeing Him prove His faithfulness.

Thanks Ernie for making this point. It is a great one. Missing an opportunity of seeing God's faithfulness would definitely be a reason that He would discourage debt. I look forward to continuing this discussion and hearing other reasons why God discourages debt.