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Are you debt-free? Who do you owe?
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8 NKJV
OWE
NO DEBT
God’s Word says to owe no one anything. God makes it very plain that we are not to be debtors in any way.
However, we live in a society of debt, within a world of indebtedness.
DEEP IN DEBT
Credit cards are found in nearly every home.
People are encouraged to buy now and pay off debt monthly for years and years.
College students graduate with a mountain of debt that often takes decades to pay off.
People replace their homes with bigger homes. They upgrade their cars.
THE WAY OF THE WORLD
We are told it is the way of the world.
However, it is not the way of God.
We are to owe NO ONE ANYTHING. That means NO ONE. We are to owe no bank, no organization, no company, no corporation, no person, or group of people. Owe no one.
It really can’t be plainer than that.
NEVER A DEBT
If we owe no one that means we are to buy and pay for that which we have the money to buy. We are not to get in debt.
Yes, I have been told all that about building credit too.
I choose to trust God and His Word instead of the “wisdom” of the world.
God’s way vastly changes the landscape of the way things are done.
It no doubt will mean a simpler lifestyle. It will mean downsizing your plans if you are patterning your future based upon the ideals of the world instead of God. This might mean minimalizing to a degree practiced by very few.
Having lived this way all my life, I will share that it brings fewer headaches and heartaches than those experienced by my friends. It also totally eradicates keeping up with the neighbors. Knowing we are honoring God’s Word brings total joy. Joys abound in the simple things with which God blesses.
Putting God first and caring little for the things of this world become the order of your day.
THE KEY
Furthermore, the Bible tells us that “having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” ( I Timothy 6:8 KJV)
We do not need the extras. Society tells us we do. God does not.
So let’s assume here for a moment that we have lived by this principle and are debt-free. We find ourselves owing no one money or material goods. There is a huge relief and freedom in such a state.
THE DEBT WE SHOULD ALL HAVE
We ARE told to owe people something.
That something is LOVE.
We are to love others.
We are obligated to pay this debt of love to them.
God gave us so much love when He canceled our debts through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross.
He tells us to love others to show our love for God Himself. No one can ever love others to the perfect extent God has through Christ. We can’t love as perfectly as Christ did while allowing Himself to be crucified for the rest of us. No one can love that much but we are to love others in ways that practice putting them before ourselves. God says that loving others is fulfilling His law.
This is the debt we are to gladly assume and spend a lifetime giving back, one person at a time.