Digging Out From Under Debt

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Introduction

The last three messages I’ve shared with you have been about stewardship.

First, we recognized that we will either be controlled by our desires and money, or we will allow God to be on the throne of our lives.

Then we explored the thought that just a little bit more… will never be enough. Materialism will never satisfy the need in our soul that only God can satisfy. God has given us several tools to help us keep Him on the throne. To deal with our desire for power, God gave us submission through prayer. To help us deal with our desire for pleasure God gave us fasting to intentionally take desire off the throne. And to help us deal with our desire for posessions, God gave us opportunities for generosity.

The third message was about God’s plan for generosity, and His promise to provide abundantly for us. We discussed how God gives us our talents and posessions, and asks us to return to him 10% of our increase. He thinks that it’s so important that we see all of our posessions as His that he tells us that when we keep the 10% back to use for our own purposes it’s stealing. On the flip side, when we choose to live on 90% of our earnings and give Him a tithe, He promises to pour out a blessing from heaven that’s so big we will have more than enough to share with others.

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Today is our last message in the series Putting the Brakes on Being Broke, and we’re going to talk about a great American institution—debt—and how we can dig out from under it.

To kick things off, here’s a series of street interviews that one of Dave Ramsey’s guys did a couple years ago:

Man on the street interviews

Debt in the Bible

The story of debt goes all the way back to the economic system that God set up for Israel in Deuteronomy. His solution to debt is based in the concept of a Sabbatical year.

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When God brought Israel into the promised land he had Moses and Joshua divide up the land among 11 of the tribes, and he gave the Levites cities scattered throughout the 11 tribes’ land. The tribes that received land were to give portions of the land to each of their tribe’s families. If they ran out of space as their tribe grew, they were to push their boundaries west towards the Mediterranean sea, and north and south until they controlled the territory from the Nile River in the southwest all the way over to the Euphrates river in the northeast. If they had followed God’s plan, they would have controlled the territory from Egypt to Iraq, including Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. But that’s another story for another time. Let’s focus on what God’s plan was for how they were to manage their economy.

Turn with me to Deuteronomy 14.

Starting in verse 22 God talks about how they were to pay tithe. He told them to tithe the increase of their grain and oil and fruit, year by year, after each harvest. They were to bring the tithe of their produce to the tabernacle where it would be divided among the Levites to pay for their spiritual service since they didn’t have land like the other 11 tribes. If they lived too far away to bring their produce, they were to sell the tithe and turn it into money and then bring the money to the tabernacle. It’s kind of fun what He suggests they do with the money. Basically he tells them to buy food and throw a feast for the levites and give them the rest of the money that’s left over.

In verse 28 God says that in the 3rd year they were to bring the tithe from their land from that year’s harvests and “store it up” on their own property to be used to help the Levites. Basically, if you were an Israelite, you would take whatever tithe you have for that year and put it aside in your own pantry, not for your own use, but to give away to the Levites that lived nearby you. Then, they could come to you and you would have plenty to share with them because you had set the tithe aside.

So, year 1 and 2 they would bring their tithe to the tabernacle where it would be distributed among the priests and levites. That was important because it brought the people to the place of worship, and it allowed the tribe of Levi to equitably distribute the resources among all their cities. Year 3 the Israelites would keep their tithe with them in their various territories, and distribute it to the Levites nearby them. Years 4, 5 they would bring the tithe to tabernacle, and year 6 they would keep it and distribute it locally again.

Tithe was a key part of their spiritual system. It forced the people to interact with the tabernacle and with the Levites regularly. This gave the Levites lots of opportunities to teach families about God’s way of life and his plan of salvation through the symbols of the sanctuary. So, God’s economy wasn’t just about how to use money, it was very much a spiritual thing.

In Chapter 15, God shifted gears to the 7th year, which would be completely different than the previous 6 years because they wouldn’t plant their fields that year. AND just as important, they would cancel all the debts any Israelite owed them. Let’s read a few verses here in chapter 15:

Deuteronomy 15:1–4 NLT

“At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money. This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the Lord’s time of release has arrived. This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Israelites—not to the foreigners living among you. “There should be no poor among you, for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.

The Israelites didn’t have a banking system. If you needed something, you might go to your neighbor or brother and ask if they could loan you money.

Anyone who has borrowed money from a family member knows how painful it can be. I never recommend lending money to your relatives or your friends. A loan gets between people and erodes loving relationship. So, instead of a loan, if your relative or friend needs something and you have the ability and willingness to help them, just give them the money without expecting it to be returned. If they return it, great, if not, you weren’t expecting it back anyway.

God’s system took into account the need to protect loving relationship. He allowed them to loan each other money, but he said they were not allowed to charge interest on it. If you loaned out $100, you were required to only demand $100 in repayment. And let’s say you loaned out that $100 in year 2 of the 7 year cycle. You could hope they would pay you back by the end of the year, or by year 3, or at least by year 6. But if it came to year 7 and they still owed $50, you were supposed to write them a nice card and say something like:

“Brother, I love you. God has provided so abundantly for me, so, I forgive your debt. You don’t owe me any more!”

Hurrah! No burden between friends. Relationships could be reset.

On the one hand this rule kept friendships together.

On the other, it prevented foolish debt. An Israelite wouldn’t lend $1,000 in year 6 to someone who they weren’t sure would pay them back by the end of the year. When God’s system was working properly, no one could get into a loan that they couldn’t repay.

God also made a rule that someone in need should not be refused, even if the 7th year debt forgiveness rule would naturally make you want to keep your money.

Deuteronomy 15:7–8 HCSB

“If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your gates in the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has.

Notice that this is a loan, but the loan isn’t for financial gain, it’s a mechanism of generosity to the poor. They should repay as much as possible, but you shouldn’t hold them to repay it past the 7th year of the cycle—the Sabbatical Year.

God’s system promoted generosity and subverted all forms of greed.

After 7 cycles of this 7-year pattern, God instituted another lever in the Israelite economy—the Year of Jubilee.

Leviticus 25:13–17 HCSB

“In this Year of Jubilee, each of you will return to his property. If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, do not cheat one another. You are to make the purchase from your neighbor based on the number of years since the last Jubilee. He is to sell to you based on the number of remaining harvest years. You are to increase its price in proportion to a greater amount of years, and decrease its price in proportion to a lesser amount of years, because what he is selling to you is a number of harvests. You are not to cheat one another, but fear your God, for I am Yahweh your God.

Leviticus 25:23 HCSB

“The land is not to be permanently sold because it is Mine, and you are only foreigners and temporary residents on My land.

Let’s say that you’re doing quite well and you have some extra cash to invest to expand your business. The rules we just read made it possible to lease the land of another family. The longest lease that you could get was 49 years. And if the year of Jubilee was coming up in 30 years or 10 years, then you would only pay for as much as would be reasonable for a 30 or 10 year lease. At the 50th year, you had to return ownership of that land to the family who originally owned it.

Let’s imagine what that would mean for a family.

Today we have wealthy people who have inherited large financial resources and can quickly purchase huge amounts of land or profitable businesses and make large sums from their investments. Their money works for them.

We also have people who have generational poverty who have no capital to invest, and no training or skill to invest wisely. God’s economy prevented generational wealth and generational poverty.

Back in Israel’s time, if your father was really good at business, all the additional assets he leased during his career would be returned to their original owners in the 50th year. He would keep all the profits he earned, but the land that generated the profit would no longer be available to your family. So, your family’s business position would be adjusted down to the same level as everyone else.

If your father was a bad businessman and had to sell off your family property, in the 50th year you’d get another chance to make your family business succeed.

This was the ultimate, nationwide, wealth management solution which included:

Resetting debts every 7 years.

Returning purchased property every 50th year.

What’s the purpose of this system? God said it plainly,

Deuteronomy 15:4 NLT

“There should be no poor among you, for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.

Debt makes people poor.

The Bible has a lot to say about debt. Let me read a few selections:

Debt creates bondage

Proverbs 22:7 NLT

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

Debt presumes on the future

James 4:13–15 NLT

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”

Debt limits generosity

2 Corinthians 9:6–7 NLT

Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

If you have debt you can’t give generously.

Debt is a shortcut that prevents us from planning well

Proverbs 21:5 NLT

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

God invites us to owe only love

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.

And if we do go into debt, He requires us to pay it back faithfully

Psalm 37:21 NLT

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

Principles for Financial Freedom

Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey isn’t a pastor or a prophet of any kind, but He does read the Bible and he’s a savvy businessman who has proven his methods and made millions. His Ramsey Solutions business/ministry teaches really good principles that will help us Put the Brakes on being Broke.

Here are a few of his suggestions that come from biblical principles:

God owns everything — we are stewards (see Psalm 24:1, Matt 25:14-30)

View money as a responsibility from God

Plan ahead so you don’t react emotionally.

We’ve already talked about this one in previous messages, so let’s move on to principle number 2.

Live on a budget

Ramsey recommends a zero based budget—meaning that every dollar that comes into your bank account has a job. This dollar is for food. That dollar is for utilities. This other dollar goes to savings for when I have to replace my car.

Proverbs 27:23–24 “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?”

Luke 14:28 “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”

Track your income and expenses.

Use a written-down budget to plan ahead for expenses and review it monthly

Spend intentionally, not emotionally

Avoid debt

We’ve already talked about some Bible verse for this one.

Ramsey points out that debt enslaves you, prevents generosity, increases your risk because you can’t predict the future and transfers future income into someone else’s pocket.

Ramsey advises to completely avoid credit cards. Sometimes we justify personal credit card use by describing the points we earn or the need we have for this thing right now. If you have credit card debt, the best thing you can do is cut up the card, delete the card from your Amazon or shopify account, and completely remove it from you spending patterns. One false move on a Credit Card and it will wrap its tentacles around every part of your life. All credit cards do is lead to anxiety.

Avoid car loans. Instead of paying for a loan today, pay into your own savings account and when you’ve saved enough, buy a reasonable, economic vehicle.

Be cautious with mortgages. It’s often a better financial choice to buy than to rent, even if you have to get into a laon to do it. But if you can’t put a downpayment on the loan, or if the only way to afford the loan is to get an adjustable rate mortgage, then you can’t afford to buy that house. Look for something smaller, or rent and put any extra money into a savings account for the largest downpayment that you can possibly make. The best downpayment for a house is a 100% downpayment. But 20% is a pretty good starting point. If you can’t make a 20% downpayment, you need to save more.

Limit student loan debt. You need education. But be careful to take as little debt out as possible. - Don’t get into debt for living expenses. - Apply for every scholarship and grant possible. - Ask relatives to help—aunts and uncles, grandparents… everyone. Ladies and gentlemen, one of the best things we can do to help our kids is to ensure they have a great education while helping them stay out of debt. - If you do have to take out loans, hunt for the best interest rates possible. - Pursue a career path that can actually provide an income—no basketweaving college degrees that have zero possible career path. - And lastly, pay two, three of four times the minimum payment as soon as you get a job out of college. Too many people get a job and think they have money to burn. None of your money belongs to you until those debts are paid off.

After your debts are paid, save for emergencies.

Proverbs 6:6–8 “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.”

A good story to remember is the wisdom of Joseph who saved a minimum of 20% of everything for 7 years so that the nation of Egypt could weather 7 years of economic downturn.

Ramsey suggests starting with a $1,000 savings fund.

Later, work towards saving 3 to 6 months worth of your core expenses like housing, food, and transportation. Or better yet, 3 to 6 months of your current monthly income.

Practice Contentment

Avoid lifestyle inflation — spending more as income increases.

Live BELOW your means

Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

Avoid comparing yourself with others

Give generously

Practice tithing from the very beginning. God can’t bless you if you aren’t faithful to submit to His ownership of your resources. (see Mal 3:10)

From the resources you manage, give generously to those in need. 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Practice generosity regularly. Plan it into you budget.

Invest and Build Wealth slowly

Get-rich quick schemes are always risky and rarely prove successful. If it sounds too good to be true, it isn’t good and it isn’t true.

Proverbs 13:11 “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.”

Ramsey suggests investing 15% in retirement as soon as you have consumer debts paid off.

Save for your kids (and/or grandkids) college

And then pay off your house as soon as you are able

Digging out of Debt

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“Debt is normal in our culture, but normal is broke.” ~Dave Ramsey

God desires us to live in loving, generous relationship to our community. He wants us to live with content hearts, not striving for more and more. He wants us to live within the resources He has provided for us, not covet what He has not given us.

And yet, our societal default is to want what we don’t have, and borrow to get it. Many of us, with good intentions, and maybe bad advice from counselors, have dug a deep pit of debt for ourselves.

So, how do we Dig out From Under Debt?

Digging out

First of all, know all your income and all your expenses. If you can increase your income, do it. If you can lower your expenses (and you almost always can), do that. Make a budget and stick to it like you’re a fly on flypaper.

Second, stop taking on new debt

Employ the debt snowball method.

Make a list of all the debts you have, listing them from the smallest to the largest loans.

Take every penny you can spare and pour it into your smallest debt. If your minimum payment is $100 but you can give $110, then pay $110. If you can’t pay extra then get a side hustle and cut expenses so you have a little wiggle room and put all that extra money you’ve earned and saved onto your debt.

As soon as the smallest loan is paid off, take the payment for that loan and apply it to the next smallest loan. When the 2nd loan is paid, put the combined amount from the first and second loans and apply it to the third loan. Don’t use any of your loan payment money for your paid-off loans to live on until all your consumer debt and education debt and car debt is paid off.

Third, start immediately. Do not procrastinate dealing with debt, waiting for some hopeful future when you’ll have more money. Start today.

Proverbs 14:23 NLT

Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!

The last few minute shave been a very brief summary of biblially sound financial principles. I’m not a financial manager, so the purpose of this has been more spiritual than practical—I want your heart to be in the right place and your mind to be free from the anxiety of debt. I don’t have the experience or the knowledge to get into crypto or give advice about the stock market or talk to you about the best plans for your business. But there are some great resources out there that will assist you in your specific circumstance with all the wild things that your financial picture includes.

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Go to RamseySolutions.com for some great free resources and encouragement, and if possible take Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Get started today, and then you can host a Financial Peace University small group this fall so others can join you in your journey!

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OR head to crownonline.org to take advantage of Crown Financial Ministries’ online MoneyLife course that goes through the same principles as Dave Ramsey.

This is not an endorsement of Dave Ramsey or Crown Financial Ministries as much as it is an endorsement of the biblical principles they promote. From my limited perspective, both ministries seem to have significant experience and provide sound resources that will help you.

Conclusion

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The conversation we’ve been having about money isn’t a judgment on your desires or choices. God gives us a quite a bit of liberty to decide how we will manage our resources, so there’s no need for any of us to judge each other.

The point of this conversation isn’t even about money or posessions.

This conversation we’ve had about money is a conversation about the motives of our hearts. It’s a conversation about our faith and trust in God.

Put God on the throne of your life.

Live as a manager of His resources.

Be content to live within the means God has provided for you.

Give generously and trust God to provide for your needs.

He promises that when we do this, we won’t be broke.

In fact, we’ll be so blessed we will have peace and joy and we will want to give to others.

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Please stand with me as we sing our closing song