Jim Elliff on Debt

Jim Elliff:

It is a sad proverb, but so true: "The borrower becomes the lender’s slave" (Prov. 22:7).

Tossing and turning through the night, the heavy borrower is a depressed soul. He dresses with striped prison clothes every morning and lugs his shackles to work—that job that offers so little hope for setting him free. He dreads the coming of the mail, and has few waking hours without remorse. Serious debtors crave freedom, but often, sadly, borrow even more in their desperate attempt to shake open their prison door. The overwhelmed debtor is fawning toward his lender, but despises him for all his generosity.

I once knew a man, a very godly man, who owed about a million dollars. He was forever at the bank working out this and that deal. It was a huge burden from one week to the next, taking a mammoth amount of his time and "worry" capital, even though he attempted to do things as correctly as possible. His bondage promised to be never-ending. Is this what life is to be about?

Finally, through some discussions together and a lot of meditating, God opened my friend’s eyes to see the immense value of being completely out of debt in both his business and personal life. He had always thought that could not be possible. But it was. It was a light that guided him over the next few years until he arrived at the desired end. He thought of this "awakening" as one of the seminal events in his life. And God has blessed him for it so much that he is now able to be an extremely generous giver for many significant Christian causes. His shackles are forever removed.

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