“The wicked borrow, and do not pay back, but the righteous are generous and keep giving;”  Psalm 37:21

 

A debt simply represents a promise to pay.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Whether the debt is to purchase a car, a house, or to facilitate a purchase by using a credit card, the issue is the same.  By creating a debt, we also create simultaneously an obligation and promise to pay.

 

Larry Burkett wrote this, "To define debt is not simple, but basically, it's an obligation to pay that can't be kept. . . .Probably forty percent of all American families are in debt in a typical year. They're unable to make the monthly payments on the money they borrowed. Many actually borrow more money to make payments on the money they've already borrowed."

 

We who are Christians should pay our debts, not only for our reputations and personal integrity, but also because what we do is a direct reflection on our Lord.  Or as the Apostle Paul expressed it so clearly in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, we are to behave properly towards people who are outside the family of God and outside God’s church.

 

Psalm 37:21 says that to borrow (to create a debt) and then not repay it is wrong. But on a positive note, this same verse also says that the person who is righteous shows mercy by repaying debts and by giving to the needs of others.

 

By the way, do people know you're a Christian by how you pay your bills and by how you give to others?

 

 

 

 

Contact the Stewardship Ministry.

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