“Which of you by being anxious can add
a single cubit to his life’s span?”
(Matt 6:27)
Servitude to Money
Christ uses money to enhance and direct our lives, but Satan will use it to bind us. We as Christians need to recognize the dangers of money entanglements and financial bondage.
What is bondage? Until modern times when a man could not pay a debt owed to a creditor he was put into debtor’s prison where he and his family belonged to the lender. We see the same practice enforced against debtors in the scriptures.
“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way; in order that your opponent may not deliver you to the officer and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you shall not come out of there, until you have paid up to the last cent” (Matthew 5:25-26.)
The Physical bondage associated with debt no longer exists, but it has been replaced by something just as bad – mental bondage and worry. Thousands of families are destroyed each year by financial problems and worries (Bondage). Why? Because they have violated one ore more of the principles God set forth in scripture.
It’s not always the case of not having money that places one in bondage, as some would believe. Many times abundance will result in mental anguish. If people don’t have enough money, they worry about getting more. If there is too much, they worry about loosing it. It is always attitude that is reflected in God’s word. We will examine this more in this lesson.
Attitude:
Webster’s defines attitude as a mental position with regard to a fact or state. Meaning how you feel about something is more or less your attitude towards it.
In Proverbs 30:7-9 we read “Two things I request of you (Deprive me not before I die): Remove falsehood lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches – feed me with the food allotted to me. Lest I be full and deny You, and say “Who is my Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.
What two principles are presented in the above scriptures?
1. The
danger of riches, which is?
2. The danger of poverty,
which is?
The principle is clear when it comes to dealing with poverty (honesty vs. dishonesty). But the distinction isn’t as clear when dealing with wealth. Why? We become content without God.
God’s Attitude toward Debt
In today’s world there is much confusion about whether a Christian should borrow money. This study will hopefully help you to clear this up by showing you the biblical attitude about bondage. First we need to define debt, or bondage. Debt is when someone has delinquent financial obligations. Therefore, money borrowed and repaid as per the agreement is not a debt, but an obligation. However, bondage can also occur if other biblical principles are violated. We will see this in later studies.
Bondage Through Debt:
One of the biggest and most common causes of debt is the abuse of credit. In Proverbs 22:7 – The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the servant to the lender.
What does the borrower become?
This principle should tell Christians what Gods attitude towards delinquent debts is. When a person borrows beyond his normal ability to repay, it is because he lacked the self-control necessary to save for or deny himself a material need.
Indulgence
God speaks to the attitude, not the act. The fact that someone is in debt is the direct result of an earlier attitude.
Luke 12:15 and he said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
What do we need to beware of?
How does this apply to us
today?
Proverbs 21:17 He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
Does this mean that God doesn’t allow us any kind of pleasure or enjoyment?
Do you remember a Scripture we have used previously relating to this?
Avoiding Debt
Ok you have dealt with your attitude and changed it. But what about the excessive debt you have? Is it scriptural to claim bankruptcy? Psalm 37:21 - The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous shows mercy and gives.
Here we see that a man who doesn’t repay his debts is considered wicked. Yet a man who repays what he owes is considered to be righteous.
Luke 16:12 – “And If you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
Describe God’s principle of credit in your own words.
Would you consider God’s plan logical? In worldly terms, to avoid debtors seems logical. A common response of the borrower is “How will I live if they take everything?”
Psalm 50:14-15 – Offer God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most high. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
What is God’s promise? What does he expect?
When God looks at us he looks into the “heart”. As you read Genesis you can’t help but notice how God asked Abraham to surrender “all” when he tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son to Him. God looked into his heart and saw true commitment to His will. Abraham so trusted that God could bring Isaac back from the dead that he was willing to sacrifice him. Thus, God entrusted Abraham His kingdom on earth.
When a Christian transfers money to another account in an effort to avoid detachment by creditors, it reflects an untrusting and deceitful attitude.
Bondage Through
Wealth
The Poor are not alone when it comes to financial bondage, an abundance of money can also bring one into bondage through improper attitudes. Those that use their money to for self-satisfaction or hoard it for the “rainy day” that never comes are also bound.
The accumulation of money and physical possessions can become an obsession that will destroy health, family, and friends. Everybody and everything becomes an object to get ahead on the “ladder of success.”
Job 31:24-25 – “If I have made gold my hope, or said to fine gold, ‘you are my confidence’; If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, because my hand had gained much;
What was Job stressing as the danger in having riches?
What lesson can we learn about wealth and attitude?
We must realize that this attitude is not just confined to non-Christians but to Christians as well; many a Christian has fallen into Satan’s snare and converted the very resources God provided for their comfort into something full of pain and sorrow.
As I said before God doesn’t condemn wealth. He condemns the misuse of wealth. We will evaluate different characteristics of the perils of money. Some are brought about by too little money; some by too much. But in either case, attitude is the key.
Conditions of
Servitude
In order to find God’s financial solutions, it is first necessary to access the problems. Too many times we treat the symptoms and not the problems. As discussed previously, circumstances are merely symptoms of an earlier wrong attitude.
You can tell if a problem attitude exists if any of the following symptoms apply.
Anxiety, frustration and worry are produced when family bills cannot be paid.
What is the admonition in Proverbs 3:27?
What is the Lord’s direction in Proverbs 3:28?
This principle establishes a pay as you go system.
This may involve not only investments, but also savings and anything else that diminishes a Christian’s spiritual faith.
Matthew 6:24 – No one can server two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You can not serve God and mammon.
God condemns servitude to money not its possession
Luke 9:25 – For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
Do you sense that Christ had the
same attitude here in this verse?
This isn’t so much an attitude of
applications as much as motivation. In other words, it is not so much what you
do as why you do it.
Is the primary motivation of work for gain or profit without effort? Sadly we
see this more and more in today’s youth I believe it is due to the lax and
wrongful thinking of the parents that has caused this decay in the work ethic
of today. Hard work is almost a swear word in today’s society as is an honest
days wage for an honest days labor.
Proverbs 28:20 – A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
What two promises does God make here?
Proverbs 28:22 – A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, and does not consider that poverty will come upon him.
What is Gods assessment of the man
mentioned in this verse?
God Specifically condemns this attitude and establishes guidelines for other Christians to follow in their relationships with him.
Proverbs 21:25-26 – The desire of the lazy man kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. He covets greedily all day long, but the righteous gives and does not spare.
This verse describes Laziness; describe it in your own words?
How does God tell us to treat those that will not work?
2 Thessalonians 3:10 – For even when we were with you, we commanded you this; If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
Remember - this means those that will not work, not those that cannot.
Being deceitful not only means lying to others, but also not being completely and openly honest. Today our society tends to believe that one cannot be successful and honest at the same time. This of course is another lie of Satan.
Proverbs 19:1 - Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
God equates a liar to a fool.
There is no such thing as a little white lie in God’s evaluation.
Luke 16:10 - He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
What does this mean to you?
God makes a promise to those that deal deceitfully in Proverbs 20:17
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
What do you think afterwards refers
to?
Having an attitude of always wanting the best, or desiring more than is presently owned best characterizes greed.
Job 21:17 - "How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, Or does their calamity fall on them? Does God apportion destruction in His anger? (NASB)
What is the reward of the wicked?
Luke 12:15 - Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not {even} when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."
What is Christ’s admonition here?
The advertising media, most frequently promotes desiring that which someone else has. Using the “keep up with the Joneses” approach.
Lets look at a verse that describes this condition.
Psalms 73:2-3 - But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant {As} I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Do you think this applies to non-Christians?
Due to the length of this weeks study we will end here and pick it back
up again next week.