RESISTING THE LURE TO BORROW06.12.10
Aired on December 6, 2010
Narration by RG Foncardas
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RESISTING THE LURE TO BORROW
The concept of debt is deceiving. Debt expert Dave Ramsey debunks the myth that “Debt is a tool and should be used to help create prosperity.”
Was this the thinking that led our leaders to bury the country deep in staggering debt? According to the book Finance or Penance for the Poor, published by Social Watch Philippines, debt service payments constituted 87.2% of revenues in 2006. In October this year aseanaffairs.com places the Philippine debt at 4.605 trillion pesos.
What does this national debt mean to you and me? More importantly, how does our God see debt?
Scripture encourages us to owe no one anything, except to love each other (Romans 13:8). Proverbs 22:7 describes the negative outcomes of indebtedness when it says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave of the lender.” From these and other passages, we gather that the Lord would want us to enjoy and experience life in all its fullness and be free of the unpleasant effects of debt.
We frequently see how debt can debilitate and ruin, instead of create, prosperity. And yet, we are surrounded by blatant ploys to sink us into unmanageable or unnecessary debt. Credit card companies entice with guaranteed memberships and other incentives to greater and greater spending, even among teenagers whose only income is their school allowance. We are made to lust after gadgets, appliances and cars beyond what we can afford, with the tantalizing prospect of low downpayment schemes. Real estate companies promise new condos we can instantly call our own with a minimal cash-out and a 20-year payment plan.
Today, it is only too easy for us to become “slave to the lender”, or, as lenders, to rule over the poor. Even the most prudent among us will not be spared from all occasion to borrow.
In the face of temptation and persistent need, we should always bear in mind the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 6: “… See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin…If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
Indeed he will, as he has always done.
Written by Loree Cruz Mante. Mrs. Mante is a regular writer of ISACC.