Reflections

 ⁷ The rich rule over the poor,
       and the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:7

The 1990s were marked by great prosperity for many people.  The stock market was high and people began buying homes.  Banks made it easy to borrow money to buy a home get a credit card, and other types of loans.  Many people bought things they could not afford and put things on credit or borrowed against their homes.  Even though the US was prospering, in the 1990s people were in more debt than ever before and people were going bankrupt.

Conventional wisdoms tell us to get a credit card to build up out credit and increase our wealth.  But the bible says that by becoming a borrower we actually become slave to the lender.  Many of us cannot do things with our money because we are enslaved to the lender.  All the extra money we get  goes to the Lender.

IT is not wise for us to borrow money to pay for things.  It is not wise to try and keep up with the Jones’.   It is foolish to pay more for a house than what it is worth.   Businesses and retail owners are about profits.  They could care less about your situation, they do care when you are going to pay back your loan.

We even have to be careful who we borrow money from.  Because if we are the lender that person becomes our slave.  If we are the borrower, then we are now a slave.  That’s why friends should never borrow money from other friends.  The relationship will be damaged by relationship of lender/borrower.  If you can’t pay for something then don’t purchase it or borrow money for it.  Make a plan to save the money to buy that item with cash and not with borrowed money.  Friendships have been destroyed because one friend was slave to the other and they ruled over the slave.  We should give money to a friend, but not lend money to a friend.   Being in debt is not wise.