What to do about debt: Advice from the Scriptures

Americans owe billions in college loans. And billions more in credit card debt. And trillions in government debt.

This is not a good place to be.

"Neither a borrower, nor a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend. And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry,” Shakespeare wrote in “Hamlet.”

Benjamin Franklin reminded people tempted to go into debt that, "Creditors have better memories than debtors."

According to the Library of Congress in the United States, debtors' prisons were banned under federal law in 1833. A century and a half later, in 1983, the Supreme Court affirmed that incarcerating indigent debtors was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection clause.

Although the penalties for debt aren’t as egregious today, the problem is very real.

Some 44 million Americans struggle with student loan debt, according to a film, “Borrowed Future: How Student Loans Are Ruining the American Dream,” from Ramsey Education, an offshoot of the Dave Ramsey Show. Over the last 15 years, curricula provided by Ramsey Solutions has been featured in nearly half of America’s high schools and impacted more than six million students. In 2008, Ramsey Solutions created an updated version, Foundations in Personal Finance, which has educated not only students but teachers who can then impart financial concepts.

A central point that Mr. Ramsey makes over and over in his radio show and curricula is how to stay out of debt. Someone, somewhere, must eventually pay it back. It should be the person who incurred the debt or someone who voluntarily helps. All too often, however, it’s taxpayers who are being billed for other people’s spending.

The United States government itself is dangerously in arrears, with the national debt now at more than $32.5 trillion and climbing fast. If you want a quick, dizzying take on this, go to the National Debt Clock at usdebtclock.org and watch the numbers spin. It is sobering.

American household debt was at a record $16.9 trillion at the end of 2022. While some things seem beyond our grasp, we can control our personal finances and risk of debt by spending less, saving more, sticking to a budget and making our money work for us.

For financial wisdom, there is no better place to turn than the Holy Scriptures, which have more than 2,300 verses about money. The Bible is full of warnings about incurring debt. Proverbs 22:7 informs us that “the borrower is slave to the lender.”

In Romans 13:8, Paul admonishes, “Owe no one anything except to love one another.” Other verses recommend working hard, being honest and investing.

Because the government is living beyond its means we are all on the hook as it compounds. The debt for each individual taxpayer as of July 17 now exceeds $253,000. Who will pay for all of this? Our children and grandchildren.

Piling debt on the next generations is a sin, according to the Bible. In 2 Corinthians 12:14, the apostle Paul states: “For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.” 

Children can, of course, assist their elders, especially since people live longer than ever. But parents should do their best not to saddle their children with debt.

Problems with debt begin with avarice in the human heart, Scripture informs us.

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed,” Jesus told a crowd. “Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15 NIV).

Author Randy Alcorn notes that becoming obsessed with material goods can trap us in a lifestyle that contrasts with a forward-looking, eternal outlook. Trusting God and giving back to Him is more important, especially since everything belongs to Him in the first place. In God’s economy, giving is the coin of the realm, not getting.

One more thing about debt. It’s not just rude but profoundly wrong to ring up debt and expect someone else to pay it. I doubt that many of the millions of current and former students who are hoping for someone else to cover their college loans think of themselves as doing anything wrong. We’re living in a society where entitlement is a way of life.

However, the Bible is unequivocal about this: “The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously” (Psalm 37:21).

Something to think about.