Quotable Wisdom: Proverbs 22

"...the borrower is slave to the lender."

Proverbs 22:7b NIV

This small tidbit in a rather complex chapter in Proverbs really stood out to me. How many people in this society are living a life of slavery? This entire recession comes down to the fact that too many of us were purposely handing ourselves over to a life of slavery and oppression. It may have felt "fun" when we purchased big TVs and big houses to put them in... but it's suddenly not so "fun" when our "masters" call in the debt and we can't pay. 

I truly believe that a Christian shouldn't live in debt. Yes, a mortgage may be a necessity for home ownership... but buying a house with less than 20% down, or maxing out our approved mortgage amount is not necessary. Yes, having a big TV is nice... but we can have patience and diligently save for our luxuries rather than paying with the credit card when we can't afford it. 

God has called us to a life of freedom. He has called us to a life of generosity... to care for the poor and the needy. Yet, not only do we ignore this call, we inflict poverty on ourselves by being greedy and irresponsible. We do not want to be patient and save for the things we need/want; rather we borrow until our lenders will give us no more, and spend like we don't have to pay it back. 

It's time to break the bonds of slavery. It's time to be free from financial oppression. God should be our only master. We will never live a life of freedom if we are drowning in debt or chasing fads and gizmos beyond our financial reach. God wants so much more for us than that.