It is common for many people to experience depression during or for several months following the holiday season. For some this is due to grief over departed loved ones, or even divorce or friendships gone sour. However for many there is a direct connection between the depression and an increase in an already over-extended debt. As women we need to study this matter carefully, since in many households, wives are delegated to the family bookkeeping.

References To Money In The Bible

Brother David Oakley wrote a workbook on finances titled Money, Master or Servant. Interestingly, he says there are more than 700 specific references to money in the Bible, and two-thirds of the parables of our Lord deal with money.

Brother Oakley informs us that between 1938 and 1948 there was a jump in consumer debt from two billion dollars to fifty billion; then in 1978 it had grown to four trillion. This is personal, not governmental, debt! Great numbers of people have more debt than they can pay. Bankruptcy for credit card debt is on the rise. Yet the Bible says, "The wicked borrows and pays not again" (Psa. 37:21). We owe, when we do not pay according to our contracts (Rom. 13:8). When we owe, we are in a form of servant-hood (Prov. 22:7).

Getting Out Of Debt

Some advice: Get out of debt! But how can one get out of debt? Great debt cannot be relieved immediately, but eventually, it can.

(1) Acknowledge that God owns everything.

(2) Do not charge another thing.

(3) Avoid emotional spending. The world should not be the determining factor for our living standards.

(4) Have a plan and work the plan. A budget is a must, especially for debt-laden people. Realistically plan so that you can pay more than the minimum payments. This may mean doing without some things such as vacations, gifts, or other luxuries for a while.

(5) Set aside some money for emergencies each pay period. If you don't, when you have car trouble, or a dead refrigerator, you will charge again, and the vicious cycle will continue.

(6) Do not short-change the Lord. Continue purposing and contributing according to the Scriptures.

(7) Explain your goals to the children who are old enough to understand, and tell them how the family will have to live to get there. Help them feel they are a part of reaching a deeper spiritual level by living the way the Lord desires.

It takes self-discipline to sacrifice, to do without, and to live within our means, while our own lusts for things are capitalized upon through advertising and product arrangement in the stores. Let us remember that godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim. 6:6-7).

Study good materials on money management—available at your local Bible bookstore. Two books that are especially good, and easy to read are: Your Money Matters by Malcolm MacGregor and Personal Finances by Larry Burkett.

If all Christians were basically debt free (especially credit card debt) what great works we could do in the kingdom together.