Financial Bondage

The topic for this Freedom Friday is the importance of being free from debt. The author of Proverbs 22:7 wrote, “The borrower is servant to the lender.” This principle applies to both individuals and governments.

I along with many other people am concerned about the amount of money that our government is spending. They are spending much more money than they are receiving. Our government has spent money that they have borrowed from foreign nations – most of it from China. This means that China now “owns” a large portion of our country. This also means that China now has power over our finances. The debt needs to be paid so our nation is printing money to pay our debt and to boost our economy. We are now in a terrible situation. Even China and other foreign nations are telling us to be careful or we will cause the economies of all nations to collapse. This is a critical time that promises to get worse unless the proper corrective action is taken.

President Obama and our current Congress should have listened to the counsel given by President Gordon B. Hinckley: “Debt can be a terrible thing. It is so easy to incur and so difficult to repay…. But be wise and do not go beyond your ability to pay. Borrowed money is had only at a price and that price can be burdensome” (Stand A Little Taller, 158).

Debts must be paid to obtain liberty. The Lord counseled, “Pay the debt thou hast contracted…. Release thyself from bondage” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:35).

President Hinckley also counseled, “We have been seduced into believing that borrowed money has no penalty, that financial bondage is an acceptable way to live. I suggest that it is not. We would do well to be modest and prudent in our expenditures, to discipline our purchasing and avoid debt to the extent possible, to pay off debt quickly, and to free ourselves from the bondage of others” (Stand A Little Taller, 74).

The common people in both our nation and in the nations of the world understand that the worldwide economy is in danger. No person or nation can continue to borrow more money than can be repaid and then survive financially. Hopefully, we voted enough “bums” out of Congress and elected enough fiscal conservatives that our representatives will begin to exercise prudence, avoid unnecessary expenses, avoid borrowing more money, and pay off our debt as soon as possible. Our nation cannot enjoy full liberty when we are in financial bondage to our enemies.