Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:7 NLT
I suppose Solomon would agree with Polonius’ remark in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” Having always lived on the meager side of the financial scale, I’ve never had to concern myself with the joys (or aggravation) of being a lender. But the borrower’s end I know well.
At the age of sixteen, my dad escorted me to a local furniture store and allowed (made is more like it) me to purchase a solid oak bedroom suit on credit. He wanted to help me establish a good credit line. I guess he knew I would be a lifetime borrower.
Taking on another monthly payment at this age, while working as a bag boy at Piggly Wiggly, was a challenge especially when I had car and insurance payments. The car was a new Chevy Vega my father had purchased. It broke down in our driveway the first day and he gave me the opportunity to purchase it.
I certainly did not enjoy my situation. Teenagers need money to blow when out with their friends, and gas to drive them. Thankfully, I had a money-slipping mother.
But my father’s venture for me was not without lessons, and Solomon’s proverb is not a complete forbidance against borrowing. It is simply a reminder to consider our resources before doing so. A loan I can manage with ease builds good credit. Loans I cannot adequately handle enslave me. Having to pay for what I had, taught me to appreciate my possessions. I kept the bedroom furniture thirty-one years, and it looked almost as good when I sold it as when I bought it. It also reminded me to distinguish between wants and needs.
When you’re tempted to overspend your ability to pay, seek out God’s wisdom through Proverbs and don’t become enslaved by things beyond your means. Find joy in what you have and be thankful.
Prayer: Father, help me to consult You and consider my financial means before making what could be enslaving choices.
Dr.Martin Wiles is an ordained minister currently serving as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Harleyville, South Carolina. He holds degrees from Baptist College of Florida and Southern Baptist School in Jacksonville, Florida. He has authored two books and has served as a regional correspondent for the Baptist Courier. He has also been published in Proclaim, The Sounds of Poetry, Fires of Genius, as well as other anthologies of poetry. Martin and his wife Michelle, currently reside in Harleyville, SC. They have two children.