Are You Ready?

Several Catholics were playing cards, when the question asked: "What would you do, if you knew you had only one hour left to live." There were various answers, such as get to Confession, make a Perfect Act of Charity or Contrition, get on one's knees and pray for that last hour. What would you do?

One man was there, who was later canonized a Saint and he answered, that he would continue doing what he was doing. His reason was simple, if we start an occupation for the love of God, then this is where we should be. "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31)

One of Saint Alphonsus' Eternal Maxims is: "It is necessary to do what at the hour of death we would wish to have done." In other words, we need to be living the Gospel way of life here and now, rather than put it off for the end of our life. "Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour." (Matthew 25:13) Death is coming to us all, and we need to be prepared for death at all times.

And so are we ready for the end of the world, that day, when the world ends for us? In order to be ready, we must have the Spirit of Martyrdom

 

What is the spirit of martyrdom?

 

Saint John Eudes gives us had five excellent attributes of the spirit of martyrdom:

1. it is the spirit of strength and constancy which fears only God and sin, and cannot be shaken or overthrown, either by promises or threats, by persuasion or violence.

2. It is the spirit of deepest humility, which feels only horror for the vainglory and publicity of the world, and loves contempt and humiliations.

3. It is the spirit of self-mistrust and of most firm confidence in Jesus Christ our Lord, our Strength, in whom all things can be done.

4. It is the spirit of perfect detachment from the world and everything that is in the world. Those who are to sacrifice their lives to God must also sacrifice to Him all else besides.

5. It is the spirit of most burning love for our Lord Jesus Christ, who leads those animated by this spirit to do all and suffer all for love of Him, who dies and suffered all for them. It so inflames them that, for love of Him, they consider mortification and suffering to be a paradise of joys, to be sought and desired while they avoid and detest the pleasures of this world as much as they would hell itself.

 

We should be ready to die for Jesus at all times, whether a natural death or having our life taken from us. Saint Thomas Aquinas tells us the martyrdom is loss of life in defense of virtue. Are we living a virtuous life? This is how we should live.

Let us go to our last hour with full consciousness. If we knew that in one hour we would be dead, what would we look back on our life and wish we had done differently. We have already made our last Confession, and realized just how much we have sinned in life. We will wish we had heeded Jesus' advice: "Go now and sin no more." (John 5:14 and 8:11)

We will wish we had thanked God more for all of the many blessings He has sent us. And let us remember that even tribulations are blessings in disguise. God sends them for some good reason and at our particular judgment we will probably find out why.

Have we taken time to adore God, Who is so adorable? Have we truly repented of our sins and begged for God's forgiveness?

Let us not put off to tomorrow, what we ought to do today.

Let us begin everything for the love of God, because this indeed may be our last hour.

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God's Word Working Within You

1 Thessalonians 2:13–16

13 Therefore, we also give thanks to God without ceasing: because, that when you had received of us the word of the hearing of God, you received it not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the word of God, who worketh in you that have believed.

14 For you, brethren, are become followers of the churches of God which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they have from the Jews,

15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and the prophets, and have persecuted us, and please not God, and are adversaries to all men;

16 Prohibiting us to speak to the Gentiles, that they may be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath of God is come upon them to the end.

My article for the Olive Tree this month is to show how prayer and the Word of God is intimately related in the Scriptures, in the Church and in our Christian experience.

• The psalmist prays, “Incline my heart to your testimonies” (Psalm 119:36). He prays that he would want to read and meditate on God’s word. Prayer and the word.

• He prays, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18). He prays that he would see wonders in the law-in the Scriptures. Prayer and the word.

• Paul says, “Take unto you the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God). By all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the spirit ” (Ephesians 6:17–18). Take the word praying. Prayer and the word.

• He says, “Pray for us, that the word of God may run, and may be glorified”. (2 Thessalonians 3:1). Pray that the word would break through and triumph. Prayer and the word.

• And the apostles said that they should “give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4). Prayer and the word.

Because the Bible puts them together so closely, and because we believe this juxtaposition (look it up! :) is the key to living the Christian life, I will try to show today with illustrations of how this actually works. The text we will build on is 1 Thessalonians 2:13–14:

1. God has spoken.

Verse 13b: “That when you had received of us the word of the hearing of God, you received it not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the word of God” So twice he calls his communication the “word of God.” This is not merely the word of man. Paul is speaking. But it is the word of God. God has spoken and is now speaking through Paul.

We believe that God has spoken in history, and that by inspiration, the Church and the Bible together, and in one accord is the authoritative deposit of that word for all time.

All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice,

That the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

2. His word comes to us in human words.

In the middle of verse 13, Paul says, “You received the word of God, which you heard from us.” You heard God’s word from us. We are human. God is divine. We are speaking on his behalf. His word is heard in human words.

Christ had appointed apostles who would be his authoritative spokesmen. He teaches and guides and inspires them (and a band of brothers close to them) and they speak his word on his behalf with his authority.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:13, “We impart [God’s truth] in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” This is what we have in the New Testament — God’s word mediated to us in the divinely taught words of men. God’s words come to us in human words. When God breathed out, (that is what inspiration means) words that had a medical connotation to them, He formed Luke in the womb of his mother. God knew him: and before Luke came forth out of the womb, God sanctified Him for the work of writing his gospel. Jeremiah 1:5

3. The Thessalonians heard the words of Paul.

Verse 13b: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us. . . .” God spoke, humans gave his word through their words, and the Thessalonians heard that.

God uses humans to deliver his word, and he delivers it to humans. Human minds hear and understand the word from God, and then another set of human minds receive it from those human mouths and again hear and understand it.

Nothing has been said yet about how the Thessalonians have evaluated the words. Only that they are hearing, and by implication, they are construing. They are trying to make sense of what they hear. That’s what we do when we hear someone speak. So the Thessalonians heard the words of Paul.

4. As they heard, God acted on their minds and hearts.

What did he do? And how do we know this?

What he did was enable them to receive Paul’s words as the word of God. Verse 13b: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it you received it not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the word of God” That’s what God did. He opened their mind and heart to know that Paul was speaking the word of God, and he gave them the inclination to receive it for what it is, not mere human words, but God’s word.

How do we know God did this? Because at the beginning of verse 13, just before saying that they received his word as the word of God, Paul says, “Therefore, we also give thanks to God without ceasing ” For what? “because, that when you had received of us the word of the hearing of God, you received it not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the word of God ”

But why would Paul thank God for this? Why would he thank God that the hearts of the Thessalonians grasped the divine nature of the human word? Why would he thank God that the hearts of the Thessalonians embraced the human words as divine word? The reason is that God enabled them to do this.

It’s the same as when Peter said to Jesus: “You are the Son of God,” and Jesus responded, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). In other words, God enabled Peter to see that the human person of Jesus was more than human. And God enabled the Thessalonians to see that the human words of Paul were more than human.

“We give thanks to God that . . . you received our word not as the word of men but (as it is indeed) the word of God.” We thank God because God gave you eyes to see the word for what it really is.

If you have welcomed the gospel as God’s word and believed, that’s how it happened to you. God opened your eyes. God inclined your heart. You saw in the words of man, the word of God (see John 8:47; 18:37; 1 John 4:6).

5. The Thessalonians accepted Paul’s word as the word of God.

We’ve said it, but it deserves its own point. Point 4: God acted. Point 5: the result was that the Thessalonians accepted Paul’s word as God’s word.

There is another word for this reception in verse 13: belief, or faith, or trust. “you received it not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the word of God, who worketh in you that have believed.” They believed...they were believers. Paul is calling them believers now precisely because they accepted his word as God’s word.

So saving faith, involves the work of God, opening the eyes of our hearts (Ephesians 1:18) to see Paul’s message as God’s word and accept it, embrace it, receive it. Faith doesn’t look at the word of God from a distance and pronounce it true. It takes hold of it, receives it, takes it in, embraces it.

“As the word of God!” That is, as supremely valuable. Precious. All important. So the Thessalonians accepted, welcomed, received, embraced Paul’s message as the very word of God, as supremely important and precious and valuable in their lives. It was received as a treasure —whose value is only exceeded by God.

6. This word of God was now at work in the Thessalonians.

Verse 13b: “you had received of us the word of the hearing of God, you received it not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the word of God, who worketh in you that have believed. ” So God acted to cause them to welcome the word. And now the word itself is living and active in them.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful and more piercing than any two edged sword; and reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

And what specifically was the effect of this working? That’s the last observation.

7. The working of God’s word produced joyful endurance in suffering.

Notice the connection between verses 13 and 14. End of verse 13: “which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews.”

Paul is giving evidence that God’s word is at work in them. And he says that receiving Paul’s word as the word of God had led to suffering. But that by itself would not prove God’s word was at work in them, because they might have responded to their affliction with anger and doubt and unbelief. But they didn’t. How do we know that? Because Paul had already said it clearly, which is why he didn’t need to here. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:5–6:

For our gospel hath not been unto you in word only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and with full assurance, as you know what manner of men we have been among you for your sakes. And you became followers of us, and of the Lord; receiving the word in much tribulation, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

By the Holy Spirit, God had powerfully given them joy in the midst of their affliction. “Our gospel came to you in power and in the Holy Ghost . . . And you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Ghost.”

Now when we go back to 1 Thessalonians 2:13–14 we see how God does this. He does it by his word. Verse 13, at the end, “but (as it is indeed) the word of God, who worketh in you that have believed. For you, brethren, are become followers of the churches of God which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered. . . .” Indeed you suffer with joy. Joy in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was giving them joy in suffering by the working of the word in their hearts and minds. This is what it means for the word of God to be at work in those who believe.

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 The Funny Pharmacy

The Pope Speaks: September 2021

1950's Catholicism Led to 1960's Apostasy

 

If you look up articles on Pope Michael, they usually focus on Vatican II as the beginning of the apostasy from the Catholic Faith. However, lukewarmness and laxity had gotten into Catholics long before Vatican II. Saint Augustine said: "Heresies are only embraced by those who had they persevered in the faith, would be lost by the irregularity of their lives." The lives of Catholics, clergy and lay was for the most part irregular in the 1950's and before. In the main, most were only Catholics in name only. They were not men and women of prayer, as we are all called to be. They were living with one foot in the world and another in the Church. They had become what We call the Church comfortable. We study in the Catechism about the Church Militant on Earth, the Church Suffering in Purgatory, and the Church Triumphant in Heaven. However, many who claim the name of Catholic prefer to be the Church Comfortable, living just as little for God as they can in order to sneak in the back door of Purgatory. It is this attitude, which permeates many to this day, which led to Vatican II. One priest put it that the Catholic way of life in the 1950's had been reduced to Mass on Sunday, fish on Friday and five dollars in the collection plate. (The minimum wage in 1950 was seventy-five cents.)

Let us consider this quote from the 20^th century: "How many there are, alas, not only among the young, but among adults and those advanced in years, who know nothing of the chief mysteries of faith; who on hearing the name of Christ can only ask? “Who is he. . . that I may believe in him?”[John 9:36] In consequence of this ignorance, they do not consider it a crime to excite and nourish hatred against their neighbor, to enter into most unjust contracts, to do business in dishonest fashion, to hold the funds of others at an exorbitant interest rate, and to commit other iniquities no less reprehensible. They are, moreover, ignorant of the law of Christ which not only condemns immoral actions but also forbids deliberate immoral thoughts and desires. Even when for some reason or other they avoid sensual pleasures, they nevertheless entertain evil thoughts without the least scruple, thereby multiplying their sins above the number of the hairs of the head. These persons are found, we deem it necessary to repeat, not merely among the poorer classes of the people or in sparsely settled districts, but also among those in the higher walks of life, even, indeed, among those puffed up with learning, who, relying upon a vain erudition, feel free to ridicule religion and to “deride whatever they do not know.”[Jude 10]" This was written over a century ago by Saint Pius X in his Encyclical on Catechism, an Encyclical that was ignored as were the instructions of Pope Pius XI on this matter later. Saint John Vianney said: "We shall find out at the day of judgment that the greater number of Christians who are lost were damned because they did not know their own religion."

Joseph Ratzinger, later Benedict XVI wrote: "For believers, it was a remarkable phenomenon that their bishops seemed to show a different face in Rome from the one they wore at home. Shepherds who had been considered strict conservatives suddenly appeared to be spokesmen for progressivism." ¹ However, the seeds of this apostasy go far into the past. In the work Passion of the Mystical Body of Christ, We trace the seeds back to the Protestant Revolt.

More recently a shift can be seen in the middle of the nineteenth century around 1859. Some blame the infiltration of the Catholic Church by the Secret Societies. In 1859 The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita was found and Pope Pius IX ordered it published. (It is reprinted in Key Documents to Understanding the Great Apostasy.) Pope Saint Pius X warned in the Encyclical, Pascendi: "That We make no delay in this matter is rendered necessary especially by the fact that the partisans of error are to be sought not only among the Church's open enemies; they lie hid, a thing to be deeply deplored and feared, in her very bosom and heart, and are the more mischievous, the less conspicuously they appear." More recently a book was translated into English and circulated, The Story of Seminary Student 1025. (This is in print as The Real Story of AA1025)

Infiltration of the Church is indeed a great evil, but these infiltrators would have been unable to plant the seeds that grew into Vatican II and its perfidious spirit, if it were not for lax Catholics. Several saints have remarked that their only fear were lax Catholics. Lax Catholics are fertile soil for the seeds of error.

The Devil told Saint John Vianney, if there had been three priests like him, the devil would be out of business. The laxity began with the clergy. By the Twentieth Century, especially in the United States, the priesthood had become a career rather than a way of life.

The seeds of apostasy were planted in the 19^th Century and began to grow. Pope Leo XIII wrote against liberalism and Saint Pius X wrote against Modernism. Unfortunately these forms of apostasy grew until they took hold of the Bishops who came to Vatican II.

The seeds of Religious Liberty, which Pope Pius IX condemned, took root and flourished. Father Nicholas Walsh wrote a book, The Comparative Number of the Saved and Lost, at the end of the 19^th century. In this book he argued that not only are the majority of Catholics saved, but the majority of people are saved. The Saints are not of this opinion.

It is Our opinion that Vatican II was actually the end, which had been sought for centuries by the enemies of Jesus Christ. Two sects grew from Vatican II. The first is the Conciliar Church, which also could be referred to as the Roman Catholic Church. Recall that the only real Vatican Council (1869-1870) decided not to call the Church Roman Catholic, as this implicitly implies there are other kinds of Catholics, when there are not. It does not matter what the sign says out front. What matters is what Faith is taught inside and visible unity with the Vicar of Jesus Christ, the Pope.

The second sects, which is divided into many parts, was formed as a reaction to Vatican II, the Traditionalists. There are many who claim the title of Traditionalist, but in actual fact are not truly holding to the Traditions of the Catholic Church. Some of the teachings they hold are contrary to the Faith. First of all, the hold that priests and bishops are mere ministers of the Sacraments, when the Office of the Priesthood is far more than a ministry of the Sacraments. Of course, none of the Traditionalists with one or two exceptions claim the Office of the Priesthood or the Office of Bishop. In the latter case, claiming the Office of Bishop would bring them under the excommunication instituted by Pope Pius XII.

Saint Paul warned: "For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way." (2 Thessalonians 2:7) If the mystery iniquity was already at work just after the time of Jesus Christ, then it was working towards Vatican II. What happened with the death of Pope Pius XII was the removal of the withholding force, which was replaced by Antipope John XXIII-II, who reigned unopposed by a true Pope. He called Vatican II, which promulgated the new doctrines of the Conciliar Church under Antipope Paul VI. These doctrines were already held by many, who claimed the name of Catholic illegitimately. (Apocalypse 3:9)

Many want to return to 1950’s Catholicism, when we need to move forward to a true 21^st century Catholicism. We need to move forward to stronger Faith and practice of that Faith. We need to live by the Gospels, not just read them.

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141. Once our thoughts are accompanied by images we have already given them our assent; for a provocation does not involve us in guilt so long as it is not accompanied by images. Some people flee away from these thoughts like 'a brand plucked out of the fire' (Zech. 3:2); but others dally with them, and so get burnt.

142. Do not say: 'I don't want it, but it happens.' For even though you may not want the thing itself, yet you welcome what causes it.

143. He who seeks praise is involved in passion; he who laments afflictions is attached to sensual pleasure.

144. The thoughts of a self-indulgent man vacillate, as though on scales; sometimes he laments and weeps for his sins, and sometimes he fights and contradicts his neighbor, justifying his own sensual pleasures.

145. He who tests all things and 'holds fast that which is good' (1 Thess. 5: 21) will in consequence refrain from all evil.

146. 'A patient man abounds in understanding' (Prov. 14: 29); and so does he who listens to words of wisdom.

147. Without remembrance of God, there can be no true knowledge but only that which is false.

148. Deeper spiritual knowledge helps the hard-hearted man: for unless he has fear, he refuses to accept the labor of repentance.

149. Unquestioning acceptance of tradition is helpful for a gentle person, for then he will not try God's patience or often fall into sin.

150. Do not rebuke a forceful man for arrogance, but point out to him the danger of dishonor; if he has any sense he will accept this kind of rebuke.

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Saints from East and West

7 September - Saint Sozon.

The Martyr Sozon, a native of Licaonea, was a shepherd.

He read the Holy Scriptures attentively, and he loved to share his knowledge about the One God with the shepherds who gathered together with him. He brought many to the faith in Christ and to Baptism.

By night-time once, when he sat under an oak tree, he had a vision foretelling his deed of martyrdom for Christ.

He set off to the city of Cilician Pompeiopolis, where a festal pagan celebration was being prepared for a golden idol, standing in a pagan temple. Unseen by anyone, saint Sozon went into the pagan temple and broke off the hand of the idol, and having smashed it he gave the gold to the poor.

The missing hands of the idol caused an uproar and commotion in the city: many were under suspicion, given over to interrogation and torture. Not wanting to be the cause of suffering for other people, Saint Sozon went to the emperor Maximian (284-305) and declared that it was he that broke the hand from the idol. "I did this," he said, "so that ye might see the lack of power of your god, which offered me no resistance. It is not a god, but rather a deaf and dumb idol. I wanted to smash it all into pieces, so that people would no longer worship its wrought hands."

The emperor in a fitful rage commanded that Saint Sozon be tortured mercilessly. They hung him up and struck at him with iron claws, and then they put on his legs iron shackles with nails inside and took him through the city. After this they again suspended him and beat him with iron rods until his bones broke.

In these terrible torments Saint Sozon gave up his spirit to God (+c.304). By decree of the emperor, slaves set a strong fire so as to burn the body of the martyr, but suddenly lightning flashed, it thundered loudly and a strong rain poured down over the flames of the fire. Christians took the body of the martyr by night and gave it over to burial. By his grave and at the place where he had the vision, there occurred healing of many of the sick. A church later was built in memory of the sufferings of the holy martyr.

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10 September - Saint Salvius of Albi.

Saint Salvius (or Salvy) belonged to a family of Albi in France, and was at first a lawyer and magistrate; but his love for retirement and the desire of being freed from distractions induced him to become a monk, and his brethren afterwards chose him for their abbot.

He chiefly confined himself to a cell at a distance from the rest, and here, being seized by a violent fever, he grew so ill that he was dead in the opinion of all about him. Indeed the saint himself was always persuaded that he really died, was vouchsafed an experience of Heaven before due time, and then was restored to life.

Be that as it may, he was in the year 574 taken from his retreat and placed in the see of Albi. He lived as austerely as ever; if anything were forced upon him, he on the spot distributed the whole among the poor.

The patrician Mommolus having taken a great number of prisoners at Albi, Salvius followed him and ransomed them all. The king of Soissons, Chilperic, fancied himself as a theologian and was responsible for an unorthodox treatise; Salvius, together with his friend St Gregory of Tours, succeeded in bringing the monarch back to orthodoxy.

In the year 584 an epidemic made great havoc among his flock. It was in vain his friends advised him to be careful of his health; animated, unwearied, undaunted, he went everywhere he thought his presence necessary. He visited the sick, comforted them, and exhorted them to prepare for eternity by such good works as their condition admitted. When he knew that his own hour was near, he ordered his coffin to be made, changed his clothes, and prepared himself to appear before God, to Whom he was called on September 10, 584.

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Advice You Can Bank On

A Catholic Perspective On Finances 

Are there consequences for borrowing money?

The Dangers of Going Into Debt - scriptural warnings about borrowing money

Scripture’s message on borrowing money is quite clear: Do not do it. God calls Christians to keep out of debt altogether. “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another . . .” (Romans 13:8).

Borrowing constitutes a judgment of God.

In the Old Testament, borrowing was evidence that the people of Israel were facing God’s judgment. “But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I command thee this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. . . . . He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him. He shall be as the head, and thou shalt be the tail.” (Deuteronomy 28:15, 44).

Borrowing results in bondage to creditors.

The very nature of going into debt is entanglement. Hebrew words for borrow mean “to twine . . . to unite . . . to borrow (as a form of obligation)” (lâvâh), and figuratively “to entangle” (âbat). Scripture warns, “ . . . The borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7).

God intends for Christians to avoid earthly entanglements in order to serve Him freely, without reservation and without distraction. “No man, being a soldier to God, entangleth himself with secular businesses; that he may please him to whom he hath engaged himself. ” (II Timothy 2:4).

Borrowing presumes upon the future.

Borrowing is based on the assumption that future conditions will allow us to repay the debt. God warns against such presumption: “Boast not for to morrow, for thou knowest not what the day to come may bring forth.” (Proverbs 27:1). “But who art thou that judgest thy neighbour? Behold, now you that say: To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and there we will spend a year, and will traffic, and make our gain. Whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow. . . .” (James 4:13–14).

Borrowing creates an illusion of independence.

Borrowing money allows us to make decisions that are independent of God’s provision of funds. Borrowing may encourage an individual to feel that he is his own authority and that he does not need to wait for wise counsel or sufficient funds. Such an attitude is condemned by God.

“Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not? ” (Lamentations 3:37). “. . . For what is your life? It is a vapour which appeareth for a little while, and afterwards shall vanish away. For that you should say: If the Lord will, and if we shall live, we will do this or that. But now you rejoice in your arrogancies. All such rejoicing is wicked. To him therefore who knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:15–17).

Borrowing evades self-examination.

God always has a good reason for withholding funds. It is a signal to reevaluate our decisions and to put our faith in Him. If we automatically borrow money when there is a financial need, we evade the opportunity for self-examination and often proceed depending on our own wisdom and efforts.

Borrowing pressures family members.

Borrowing puts pressure on those who depend on our leadership and provision, especially family members. Unexpected events can transfer the burden of debt directly to them.

The anguish of this situation is illustrated in the plight of a widow who lived during the time of Israel’s prophet, Elisha. The widow’s husband had been deeply in debt. When he died, his creditors demanded payment from his wife. She forfeited everything she had, but the proceeds were not sufficient to pay off the debt, and her creditors demanded that her sons become their bondservants. The woman sought counsel from Elisha, and God moved supernaturally to provide for the payment of her debt. (See II Kings 4:1–7.)

Borrowing interferes with God’s provision.

God wants to demonstrate His supernatural power as He provides for our needs. In this way, He exposes the false confidence people place in their own wisdom, abilities, and riches. “For the eyes of the Lord behold all the earth, and give strength to those who with a perfect heart trust in him. . . .” (II Chronicles 16:9).

Borrowing demonstrates discontentment with necessities.

We need only a few basic things to survive: food, clothing, and shelter. Yet, most of us have expectations of additional provisions, and often borrowing is regarded as a means to purchase items that are not necessities. God warns us of the danger of coveting the power to buy whatever our hearts desire.

“Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world: and certainly we can carry nothing out. But having food, and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content. For they that will become rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men into destruction and perdition. For the desire of money is the root of all evils; which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows.” (I Timothy 6:6–10).

Borrowing removes barriers to harmful items.

There are many things we think would be beneficial to our lives, but God knows if they would be harmful to us or not. In His mercy and wisdom, He may limit our funds so that we cannot afford to purchase things that would be harmful or destructive. When God does not provide funds for something we want, Satan tempts us to get the money in other ways.

Borrowing devours resources through high interest payments.

Most people who borrow money do not comprehend the final price tag of going into debt, because they think only in terms of monthly payments. They typically think of the interest as a small amount, but in the end, interest payments pile up. The final cost of the loan is often several times greater than the initial price of the item.

God calls us to be good stewards of money and to be faithful in managing small amounts as well as large amounts. “He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater: and he that is unjust in that which is little, is unjust also in that which is greater. If then you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon; who will trust you with that which is the true? ?” (Luke 16:10–11).

Borrowing stifles resourcefulness.

Having loans available on demand tempts us to reject the option of thinking of creative solutions to meet financial needs. Only when you make a firm and final decision that you will not borrow money are you mentally, emotionally, and spiritually free to be truly resourceful.

Jesus gave two illustrations of men who wanted to buy expensive items. Although neither man had enough money to make the purchases, neither man borrowed any money. Instead, the men sold what they had. With the money from the sale, they bought what they wanted. (See Matthew 13:44–46.)

Borrowing promotes impulse buying.

Buyers are often encouraged to make impulsive decisions based on the desires of the moment. Easy access to loans facilitates hurried purchases that bypass prayerful evaluation and wise counsel. We should carefully consider our management of the funds God provides and wait until we know we are finding a good buy before making a purchase.

Borrowing often instigates overspending.

Credit card users tend to buy more than those who pay with cash, and they tend to pay more for the items they buy. Overspending is destructive because of the bondage debt brings. Overspending also stimulates pressures and conflicts that damage relationships, especially within the family.

Borrowing weakens personal faith.

God has promised to provide for the needs of His children. (See Matthew 6:25–34.) When Christians borrow, it suggests that God is not taking care of their needs and that they have to make up the difference with a loan. If we do not have money for something, it may be that God is saying “wait” or “no.” It is far better to wait for God to provide rather than to borrow money to make the purchase. God’s provision confirms His direction for us and demonstrates His faithfulness to us.

Borrowing excludes help from others.

God uses the needs in the life of one Christian and the abundance in the life of another Christian to bring them together in fellowship. The one with abundance is given grace to help those in need, and the one who receives is filled with joy and gratefulness because of God’s provision through the giver.

Interdependence played a key role in the early Church. “In this present time let your abundance supply their want, that their abundance also may supply your want, that there may be an equality, As it is written: He that had much, had nothing over; and he that had little, had no want.” (II Corinthians 8:14–15).

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