What’s wrong with credit card debt?

It’s a lack of faith

Ron Blue has written 15 books on personal finance and is president of Kingdom Advisors, which advises Christian finance professionals (MasterYourMoney.com).

The Bible offers many warnings about debt, but it never says that borrowing money violates God’s commandments. However, it may be unwise to do so.

Having credit card debt violates two biblical principles. First, debt presupposes the future (James 4:13-15). When we use credit card debt, we assume that money will be available to pay off the debt in the future.

Second, using credit card debt can deprive God of an opportunity to provide. Isaiah 55:8-9 says that God’s ways are not our ways, that his plans are higher than ours. When we use credit card debt as a quick fix, we are effectively denying ourselves the ability to let God meet our needs.

Plus, credit card debt is very expensive. Unpaid balances on credit cards can carry monthly interest rates in excess of 25%. The cost of carrying an outstanding balance from month to month means you pay a monthly premium on that balance. If you have an outstanding balance of $2,000 on a credit card and are only paying the monthly minimum, it will take you 32 years to pay off that $2,000. You will have paid the whopping $10,000 to buy something that cost $2,000.

Financial choices and difficulties are always symptomatic of other problems. Some of the most common issues that lead to credit card debt include a lack of contentment, a lack of self-discipline, the search for security, and the search for meaning.

The bottom line is that we should avoid putting a lender in the place of God by depending on him to meet our needs, and we should not play God in our own lives by deciding…

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