Bondage of Debt
As you ponder how much to borrow this year for school, you look at all of your expenses, remaining tuition, fees, room and board. You realize that your eligible loan amount allows you to still borrow even more! So instead of working this semester as you had planned, you decide to borrow your living expenses, books and transportation home during the holidays. Why not? They wouldn’t have set the limit so high if you weren’t supposed to use the money? And it also allows you to spend more time studying instead of working so it has to be the right decision. Happy with your decision, you continue borrowing your way through school. When you graduate and look at the total amount you have borrowed and the loan repayment amounts, you are shocked! You didn’t realize you borrowed THAT much! Now as you are getting started with your new job, your budget is more impacted that you expected, so instead of the new car you were eyeing, you have to settle for a used older model. And instead of all new furniture and a big screen TV in your apartment, you are shopping at Target and Walmart to provide table and chairs and stuck with a much smaller TV. Debt changes lives. It limits your options and sometimes even your opportunities. Proverbs 22:7 says “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” What does that mean? You don’t have the freedom to accept a great job opportunity because the salary is too low to pay for all the bills you have. Or the freedom to relax on a nice vacation because you don’t have a lot of extra money. Borrow wisely!