What Does The Bible Say About Borrowing Money

Money can become something that rules our lives an idol ofsorts.

Borrowing is always discussed in the bible as a negative rather than a positive principle. Deuteronomy 15 6 for the lord your god will bless you as he has promised and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. As i wrote a few months ago credit is a new concept to russians so i had to keep it pretty simple plus using an interpreter was a trip in and of itself. Since this topic was fresh on my mind and debt is such a problem for americans i wanted to start my the bible on money series.

Psalm 37 21 says the wicked borrows and does not pay back but the righteous is gracious and gives this text is clear. In fact it seems to be a consequence of disobeying god s statues of economics and principles of finance. It does not say the person who borrows is wicked but rather the one who borrows and does not pay back. He shall lend to you but you will not lend to him.

The bible says many things about money but the heart of the matter is this. On my recent trip to russia i spoke to a business group about what the bible says about debt and borrowing. It is a blessing to people. Most of the time when we listen to the lord and handle our money right we will never be in debt.

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When the bible talks about lending you must remember it is talking about a completely different borrowing and lending culture than our own. Additionally as the psalmist makes clear we are to repay our debts psalm 37 21. God s desire is for us to have life to the full andhe knows that worshiping money will keep us from that. God would rather have us look to him for our needs than rely on lenders.

He continues the absolute minimum that god s word establishes for anyone who borrows is found in psalm 37 21 the wicked borrows and does not pay back but the righteous is gracious and gives if we don t want to be considered by god to be wicked we must repay any money we have borrowed. It is not god s best for his people as debt essentially makes one a slave to the lender proverbs 22 7. The bible teaches that when money is borrowed there should also be a secure repayment plan. Not having to borrow money is a blessing from the lord.

When we loan money to someone we increase that person s debt load and make it easier for him to stumble.