Pastor Maselo Mosomane
“The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7 KJV
It is that time of the months when telephones are ringing and you don’t want to pick up the receiver because you don’t have answers. When the telephone rings you walk out of the office. Someone does his or her job and picks up the phone and take the message. You later walk into your office and on the desk you notice a telephone message with a reference number and you arrogantly ignore it. You curse.
In your in-basket there at the left corner of your desk lie some window envelopes waiting for your attention. Not only are those; there are some tied up with a rubber band in your drawer. I don't know why you are not taking them home. None of them is opened.
How much do you owe? This may sound annoying but until you open those letters you may not know exactly how much you owe. Ignoring those letters and telephone calls will not balance your ledger. I know by experience how this state of affair can be so traumatizing.
When you are in debts, you totally loose control and someone somewhere in those big offices assumes control over you. He controls your money. You work and earn money but he controls it. The bible says “The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.” When you enter into a credit transaction; you are actually handing control over your life to one who lends you money to finance that transaction. It is not only control over your life that you hand over; you hand over your money too. It does not end up there. You also become his servant. How? You begin to work for him.
Maybe we should put a magnifying glass over this matter. You see; when you borrow money from an institution, two transactions are entered into. One; you borrow from the lender who charges you interest. Two; you borrow from your next 24 to 60 (in some cases 240) months salary. You have in fact arranged for a salary reduction for the coming months you are indebted. You thought you were making your life better but now you can’t even answer your creditor’s telephone calls. In what way is this making your life better? You thought you were making your life better but you ended up making it miserable.
The word of God says “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” The word for servant in Hebrew is "ebed" It also means "bondage" or slave." People who worked for others were first called slaves. But when the morality of slavery was questioned, the word was modified to servant. Later when the world became industrialized the word employee was adopted. However; every time the word was changed, the concept remained the same. Slave and slave master relationship continue with improved conditions. The Bible says borrowing turns borrowers into slaves and lenders into slave masters.
The credit system in itself; may be helpful when used for the right purpose but dangerous when abused. I fully believe that the credit system was meant to help finance assets to generate income for the owner (the borrower) and interest for the creditor (the lender). On the other hand, when we borrow to maintain a lifestyle; for example to buy food, clothing, furniture, appliance and so forth, we abuse the system. These kind of commodities are liabilities and not assets. They make us spend money rather than help us make money.
You make profit when you use the credit system to finance assets of profit nature. You make more money. You pay interest when you use the same system to finance liabilities. You loose more money. Assets make one rich; liabilities make one poor and poverty turns people into slaves.
Friends, it is possible; every one of us can work himself or herself out of debts. You say; where do I start? Well; you start right where you are right now. You start by facing yourself and tell yourself the truth. Open those envelopes; know HOW MUCH YOU OWE and map your way out. God wants us to maintain our freedom and enjoy life.
- Know how much you owe. Stop living a lie and tell yourself the truth that you are in debts. Jesus said; "...you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32 Say this to yourself; "I owe R.............." Mention the figure for it is important for you to hear it in your ears how much you owe. At first this will annoy you because you don't want to hear this. Many people don't like to hear the truth. But the more you hear this, the more you will want to do something about it.
- Pay your regular installments. Honor your obligations and pay as you promised. You are not making anything better by skipping your installments. The bible says; “the wicked borrows and does not repay” Psalms 37:21.
- Face your creditors. If you are not able to keep to the required installments, approach your creditors and negotiate. Don't hide away from them - answer their telephone calls. Yes, it is true; call center personnel can be hard sometimes. Know that they are only doing their job. The best you can do is to visit the shop or the bank you are indebted to and make some arrangements. They are always more than willing to reach an agreement that guarantees a regular payment. Jesus said; "Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison."Matthew 5:25
- Exercise financial discipline. If you are really serious about getting out of debts, you will have to show some financial disciple. Ill-discipline got you into debts but discipline can get you out of debts. You ran into debts but now you must be willing to walk out of debts. This is how you do it; As you pay the little you have arranged, STOP BUYING ON CREDIT. "Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established." Proverbs 24:3. Not through debts - through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.
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