What the Bible Says About Debt – Part 3
In the first two parts of this series I pointed out three truths that are contained in the Bible concerning debt. First, There is no such thing as “good debt”. Second, debt makes us slaves to the creditors. Third, the way to avoid being a slave is to “owe no man anything”.
There is a good chance that as you are reading this article you may have come to the conclusion that your situation is hopeless. I want to assure you that if you are willing to follow God’s advice you will find that a hopeless situation can be turned into a “hopeful” situation.
Proverbs 6:1-5 gives us God’s instructions if you find yourself in a situation where you owe money – the Scriptures tell us that we are to “free ourselves like a gazelle” NIV. Now, I know that doesn’t sound like much advice but it really is a powerful instruction. The gazelle is an amazing animal. The gazelle can sense the presence of danger with incredible awareness. Once they sense danger they do four things. First, the moment they sense danger they become absolutely still so that they can use their senses to determine just where the lion or leopard is hiding and thus they can determine what their next move will be. Second, they jump straight up in the air as high as 12 to 15 feet! This dramatic feat allows them to get the first step of escape on any predator. Third, they begin running away from the enemy at the astounding speed of 60 to 70 mph! Fourthly, after they have separated themselves from their attacker they remain in cruising speed around 30 mph indefinitely.
Here is the lesson for you and me. Lesson one, take time to be still from your spending and “busyness” so that you can honestly assess who you owe and how much you owe. You must be acutely aware of the situation in which you find yourself and get it all down on paper. Lesson two – make a dramatic and radical decision to go another direction. Cut up your credit cards, make a budget, sell the other car, sell the boat, sell the camper, sell unwanted items on ebay, have a rummage sale and use all proceeds to kill debt. Raise as much cash as possible and pay off your smallest amount account. After you have paid off that smallest bill take that payment and add it onto the next smallest amount account and pay it off. Keep doing this until all of your debts are paid. This simple technique is referred to as the “snowball technique”. My own experience with the snowball is very positive – it works! Third lesson – pay off the debt as fast as you can. You will find that with each small victory your confidence will grow and your adrenaline will kick in and you will really start finding more ways to pound that debt down. Fourth lesson – Keep doing these things until all your debt is gone and then “keep living a debt free life” for the rest of your life. Free yourself like a debt-free gazelle!
Brad Richardson has pastored churches for 24 years and taught the financial precepts found in the Bible. His site Financial Solutions offers many more sources of help to rid yourself of the great enemy of your finances – debt!
