Debt is Bad

Introduction

Reiterate: There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Meant to be a helpful reminder in two parts: practical & theological.

Avoid Debt

Proverbs 22:7 NLT

Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.

Psalm 37:21 NLT

The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers.

Romans 13:8 NLT

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.

How to Read Proverbs Chapter Five: Are Proverbs Always True?

This proverb is not insisting on an absolute law; it is rather putting forward a generally true principle that depends on the right time and circumstance

Exodus 22:25 NLT

“If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would.

Lend Generously

God Cancels Debts

Colossians 2:14 NLT

He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Matthew 18:23–35 NLT

“Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”