Top 4 Reasons to Get Out of Debt

For as long as I can remember, debt has been there, in my life, whether due to my parents’ finances, with their cars or the house or credit cards, or my own, with a credit card or, mainly, student loans. I didn’t realize it was holding me hostage from a freedom I longed for, a freedom where I was not slave to the lender but free to do whatever I’d want with the income with which I was blessed (Proverbs 22:7). Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have no debt, to be able to pay everything in cash, not owe anyone anything? I do, every day, and I pray God would help me get there. Really, I know He already is.

Welcome to my debt free journey.

When my husband and I got married, together we had about $180,000 worth of debt, principal. Since then, we’ve paid off almost $80,000. That was four years ago, and we still have over $100,000 left. Can you believe it? Unfortunately, I can. Jesus help.

We started this journey with hope, but the longer we’ve been in it, the more our hope has started to dwindle. I think recently, though, God’s been been trying to reignite the fire I once had to push hard and get out of this debt. It’s got to be for a reason, because He knows our future, He knows what’s up ahead, and He knows why it’s so important for us to get out of this debt. So,  to be very clear in this post, here are the top four reasons I believe it’s worth getting out of debt.

1. FREEDOM
The freedom to do what we feel called to, to pursue the gifts and passions and visions God has placed in our hearts and minds, is an amazing thing. To delegate every dollar toward advancing the kingdom (including savings and living expenses) instead to lenders and people we owe is what I long for. The Bible says Jesus has set us free by His blood, no longer bound. Yet, do we then reject that freedom when we choose to be bound by debt? I think so, though I didn’t realize it at the time. Thank God for His grace and revelation that His freedom is sweeter than debt and for His help to get me out. As I said earlier, “the borrower is slave to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). I’d much rather be a slave to Christ who sets me free and makes me whole than a lender who can charge more interest or demand the money be paid back in full tomorrow. Wouldn’t you?

2. THE BIBLE SAYS TO
Romans 13:7-8 says, “Pay to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; respect to whom respect; honor to whom honor. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law.” It says to “pay to all what is due them,” which would include those you borrowed from because you agreed to pay it back. That money is due them. It also says to “owe nothing to anyone.” That one’s pretty clear, I’d say. 

3. MORE MARGIN
Without debt, I will have more margin in my income. I’ll be transparent here and let you know that my husband and I pay over $1,500 a month toward our debt minimums. Minimums! That’s not including the extra we’re putting toward it. And when we started, we were paying almost $3,000 toward minimum payments! So imagine if we didn’t have to pay that anymore and where that money could go. Honestly that’s two rent payments in the $3,000 alone, just for minimums! 

4. LESS RISK
If I were to lose my job today and my husband tomorrow, my parents-in-law would easily welcome us into their home, feed us, make sure we’re clothed, even drive us places. But we still would have to pay our lenders. If I could, I would do that emoji where I can smack my face with my hand. So even though we wouldn’t be homeless — which I truly praise God for and thank my parents for their kindness — we would still be susceptible to a lawsuit and bankruptcy and… Honestly, I don’t even know the full extent of what happens when you stop paying back your lenders, but I sure don’t want to find out. 

If these four reasons aren’t enough for you to give up on debt entirely like it is for me, then I would encourage you to pray about it. Ask God what is right. Because, at the end of the day, this is coming from me, a person who loves God but is not by any means God Himself. So ask God what He thinks about debt and how He would advise your approach to it. 

If you’d like to hear more about what the Bible says about money, check out my YouTube video about this here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Story of Keeping Hope During My Mother’s Passing

Earlier this year, in late January, my mother was admitted to the hospital. She had a cough, but she couldn’t cough and she couldn’t swallow her food when she ate, so my dad brought her in to see what was wrong.  The hospital put a tube in her to get all the phlegm out of her lungs, and they attached some type of food bag to her so that she can have food in her system as they ran more tests.  My dad called me to let me know. My sister flew home to see her, and she stayed for some days. I was trying not to be nervous that this could be anything, that my mother wouldn’t get better. I believed that tube would come out and that she would be fine. That’s where I put my faith, and I was sticking to it. I didn’t even really cry or worry or bother going home because I believed she would get better. There were talks in our family group text that she may have lung cancer. I rebuked it in Jesus’ name right away, declared healing, and said that she didn’t have cancer, that we don’t have ...
Read more

Life in God's Presence

After graduating college, I got a video production internship at my university. It was during that time that I really sought God, gave it my all, and so badly wanted to be surrounded by Him. And one day, as I went to the chapel to pray during my lunch hour, I got baptized in the Holy Spirit. I said, "I receive Your Holy Spirit," and immediately I got filled with so much warmth, more warmth than I felt in a long time. I had been so cold before then, always shivering with goose bumps, but that moment, my insides were on fire and I felt the joy and peace of the Lord. I started jumping and dancing around in the chapel, not caring if anyone were to walk in to pray themselves and see me having a blast. I was laughing and crying and praising. (I even wrote a song about it. Check it out here: Drunk on the Spirit .) I was so grateful, so happy, to be in the presence of the Lord, and to know without a doubt that He was truly there, in me and around me.  Imaging if every moment of our l...
Read more

My Marriage Testimony

I met my husband on a dating app. At the time, I was disgusted by dating apps. I thought it was full of men who just wanted to hook up or creepy men who couldn’t get a date in real life. It sounds harsh, but this truly was my mindset.  I was trying to stay pure, meet the right, Spirit-filled, Christian man, and I thought there’d be no way I’d meet him on a dating app. But when I asked God how I could possibly start dating in the middle of a pandemic when everything was shut down, He told me, “Meet people you wouldn’t normally associate yourself with.” I was shocked, offended, curious. Who could that be? Anyone from college? An alumni group? I thought I’d want to meet anyone and everyone. I loved people. Who would I not want to associate with? I didn’t know what He meant, but I remembered what He said.  Since God encouraged me to start being open to the idea of dating again after a heartbreak, I started looking up marriage testimonies on YouTube. You want to know what I found? ...
Read more