Dave Ramsey’s Financial Wisdom From Proverbsדוגמה

Day 5: Distracted by Debt

Consider This: Debt puts you—and your money—in bondage to the lender.

There’s a huge myth that’s fooling a lot of people today. It’s the myth that debt is an effective part of their financial plan. The myth that it’s normal to make four “easy” buy-now-pay-later payments on a $25 T-shirt. Seriously?

Credit has been marketed to us so effectively that most people think they can’t live without it. They think debt is good—even necessary. They think you need a credit card and that you have to take out student loans to go to college. They think a car payment is just a part of life. To top it off, they think anyone who lives without debt must be crazy!

Well, I’ve been called crazy before, and I’m okay with that. When it comes to debt, I don’t want to be normal. I’m fine with being weird. And I’m in pretty good company, because King Solomon—who knew a lot about money and wealth—felt the same way. In Proverbs 22:7, he was adamant about avoiding debt. Why? Because he understood what so many people today totally miss: Debt enslaves us!

The Bible says the borrower is a slave to the lender. That’s pretty strong language, but it’s totally on target. The Hebrew word literally means servant, slave or subject. Think about it: A slave can’t give because he doesn’t have anything. He can’t go where he wants to go or do what he wants to do because he always has a master calling the shots. That’s exactly how it feels when you’re up to your eyeballs in debt.

Solomon knew what he was talking about. This guy was the wisest man who ever lived! He didn’t use the word “slave” by accident, and he wasn’t being overly dramatic. He was just showing us what debt really is: a cruel master. Anybody who has felt the weight of debt payments knows this is true.

One of my favorite things happens every day on The Ramsey Show. It’s when people come to our building to share their Debt-Free Scream. They tell their story of paying off thousands of dollars of debt—or even hundreds of thousands. When they scream, “We’re debt free!” you can feel the sense of freedom that comes from no longer being in bondage to debt. It’s amazing. I love it!

If you feel like debt is enslaving you, don’t wait any longer. If you feel buried beneath a mountain of debt, you can do something about it today. You can actually choose to live without debt. Really. There’s great freedom in that decision.

Do you know what you can do when you don’t have to make debt payments? Pretty much anything you want. Because you—not the bank—get to decide how to use your money. That’s life without the distraction of debt.

Reflection Questions: What would it take for you to move toward a lifestyle where you owe nothing to anyone? How much margin would you have in your budget if you didn’t have to make debt payments? What could the people of God do for the kingdom of God if they were all debt-free?