Reflections

“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” Proverbs 22:7

The holiday shopping season has officially started.  Many people are out shopping for Christmas and looking for the best deals of the year.  Some reports say that retailers do their most business for the whole year during the holiday season.  Since the recession people have cut back on their spending and not buying things like earlier in the decade when sales were high.

Unfortunately, most people back then spent money they did not have.  The credit squeeze has taken hold on many people and people are struggling to pay back debts they built up over the years.  Many people can’t even make basic household payments because of pasts debts.  They have become slaves to the lenders.  The lenders are cutting back and making it more difficult for people to borrow and raising their rates and fees which is in turn hurting even credit worthy individuals.

God never intended us to be in constant debt.  He knew that if we were we would be slaves to the lenders.  The lenders can take your house, your car, and your wages if you do not pay the money you owe.  There is nothing good that comes out of borrowing money we don’t have on things we really do not need.

Now is the time to take back our finances, give them over to God and trust that He will deliver us from our lenders.  Once He does then we must make every effort not to return to that slave mentality and handle our money with wisdom and the way God intended.