The world’s economy is an ever-escalating mound of debt. There are several reasons I believe the debt bubble is so great – let me preface with the fact not one of these are a “bad” thing, just a fact that they have contributed to the debt in our society in some way. These reasons include:
- Advances in technology. Being able to swipe a visa card is easier than feeling the hard-earned paper bills leaving your wallet. With a debit card you don’t even need to glance at the total purchase when checking out at target, where if we still lived in a cash society, counting out the total would be a necessity and a great reminder to be accountable to spending only what we have.
- Adopting perception as value. We often adopt a posture or belief that other people’s perception of us is equivalent to our value in society. This is often referred to as “Keeping up with the Jones’.” When we see others gaining, we immediately feel discontent, and instead of submitting those feelings to God and praying about them, we try to fix it our own way, sometimes leading us to spend what we don’t have in the pursuit of happiness.
- Regurgitating a strong command to go to college. I believe college is important and valuable for specific occupations and career paths, however, I do not believe that everyone needs to go to college. Unfortunately, much of the debt bubble is made up of a fierce cycle of millions of students who cannot afford to attend college and institutions taking advantage of them committing to loans, to which their career paths will struggle to pay off in a reasonable amount of time or ever. The current school loan debt is: $1,243,707,865,652 and it seems to me it is getting ready to burst!
- Poor communication in marriage. Many marriages are not openly talking about finances in their relationship or there is a lack of concern to keep each other accountable to any kind of budget. The Lord asks us to be good stewards of what we have been given, and simply put, people are not following through on this. And their lack of responsibility is contributing to a cycle of brokenness and debt that will continue with their children as they set that kind of an example through their daily choices.
These are what I can come up with now, but I am sure there are more. In fact, if you think of any, please add to the list in a comment. I believe it is vital that we open up our eyes and consider how this mound of debt is going to suffocate the life out of the next few generations, especially seeing its powerfully negative effects on today’s society.
So how can a marriage thrive in this debt economy?
Get out of debt and stay out of debt!
Maybe that is a blunt statement and for some it seems impossible…let me encourage you...it IS possible!
It may require some excruciating self-discipline and control, but it is possible. Take all of your debt, and if you are married consider your debt together, then make a plan to get rid of it as quick as possible. This may force you to some extreme actions such as moving to save on mortgage or rent…for us it meant living with my parents for two years to send $1000 a month to knock out $20,000 in two years. Get drastic! It is that important!
Then once you make a plan stick to it! Pray over it and submit your plans to God.
Then once you are debt-free, take time to celebrate, then make every decision after that to stay out of debt.
Here are six more tips for having a debt free marriage I shared on For The Family: Click Here.