BORROWING FROM THE FUTURE

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the leader.”

-Proverbs 22:7

Whether it is the government, the Church, or the family, there is a fault common to all three. We’re borrowing from the future to pay yesterday’s bills. World economic advisors content that in the past ten years the average family has spent 102 percent of its income.

We have two choices: (1) bring spending into line with income, or, (2) increase the cash flow. Borrowing money isn’t the solution. Like an alcoholic stupor, it only sedates the conscience and postpones the moment of truth. A lot of people and institutions hope to outlive their problem, but few actually do. Scripture says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the leader” (Proverbs 22:7). Our economic problems today are the result of three fatal attitudes:

1.Borrowing more money is the solution to my problem.

-An economic professor who filed for bankruptcy was interviewed on TV by a reporter, who asked how he could get into trouble financially when he knew better. His reply, “It was my credit cards. I kept thinking I would catch up with them but they caught up with me.”

2.I’ve got to have it now.

-Indulgence is like a dynamite needs. Learn to sift your wants from your needs. Realize that God’s promise of provision extends only to your needs, not your wishes or wants.

3.Ignorance.

Interviews of several thousand people in deep financial trouble revealed that most of them neither knew how much they owed nor how much interest they were paying on their debt. When Paul wrote, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another” (Romans 13:8), he meant exactly what he said. It’s still good economics today.