Living in a materialistic world
If you look around you today, it would seem everyone is out to out do the other, in cars, homes, possessions, etc. It doesn't matter anymore if your pay day will not support your wants, only that you have your wants, when you want them! The credit card companies see to that by making credit available to you whether you can afford it on your salary or not. They never take into account that you may be so loaded down with debt that you may be headed for bankruptcy tomorrow! They just want to satisfy your wants today!
The old car is no longer 'in style'. The world says why not buy a new one? After all, the one you have now might break down tomorrow, so don't wait until it does.Go head over heels in debt in order to keep up with the neighbor (who may just be able to afford that new luxury car!).Don't get me wrong. I can understand wanting a new car or a new home, or many other wants. It is just that I do not see getting yourself so caught up in debt that you are depressed, or ready to jump off the next cliff because you do not know where your next meal is coming from. You are constantly having to 'rob Peter to pay Paul'. Here's where the scripture from Romans 13:8 comes in.
- Romans 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
So many Christians today will tell you they just cannot afford to pay tithes. Yet, they go out and make debts that are hard to pay back, and they are forever falling behind on payments. I believe the verse above tells us that the Lord would have us to be out of debt where possible, and never get in debt over our heads. But, the world today makes it harder and harder to keep to those principles. 'Other people have a new car; why can't I have one, too?' It always seems a good idea to go ahead and fulfill our wants, and we seldom look down to the future to see if we will really be able to afford those wants or not.
My parents have never been in debt except for utilites or insurance, something everyone has to pay month to month, quarterly, or yearly. But, to go out and buy something and go in debt - they never have! My Dad is gone now, and my Mother is 89. The only credit card she has ever owned was for a department store where she could get 5% off, if she charged her purchase. She would charge her purchase, and then go to the Credit Department and pay the bill! They always saved up for a new car and paid cash. We didn't have all that much when I was growing up, and I was probably 12 or 13 before we got our first car. Before that, we walked to church or to the store in our little town. And, if a trip had to be made elsewhere, we'd go on the bus, or with a neighbor or relative. And, they built their house board by board, literally, back in the 1930's, while they lived with his parents out the road. As quick as they got it under a roof, no windows, etc, they moved in! My Mother still lives in that home which they updated later in years with 2 more rooms and they bricked it. It is one of the nicest homes in the area, but all built debt-free!I believe there would be more happy people in the world and less problems, if we learned to live within our means. If we would remember it is better to be free of cumbersome debt than to have it hanging around our neck like a millstone, life would be 100% better.
Linked at Conservative Cat, Basil's Blog, Blue Star Chronicles,Church and State
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