There are Christian financial advisors, such as Dave Ramsey, that teach students to avoid taking out student loans. They often point to Romans 13:8 which says, “OWE NO ONE ANYTHING except to love one another” (NKJV). They will also quote Proverbs 22:7 to show what the relationship is between the borrower and the lender; it reads, “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” They conclude that the Christian should NOT go into debt for in doing so they become enslaved to a financial institution. But even though they say going into debt is BAD, they do not call it a SIN.

Since you already have “a huge student loan,” let’s look at a few verses from God’s Word that should help to guide you as you seek to pay back what you owe. We already quoted Romans 13:8 which stated “Owe no one anything.” As I mentioned, this verse has been used to teach that a Christian should never, under any circumstances, be in debt. But in reality most of us who own homes are in debt from month to month for services rendered, and thus we receive electric, telephone, utility, and other bills. This verse would teach us to PAY OUR BILL ON TIME! This “principle” holds true for your student loan as well. The time will come for you to PAY IT OFF on some kind of payment plan, and to glorify God you will need to PAY IT ON TIME. To fail to do this would put you in the same category as the wicked, for Psalm 37:21 says, “The wicked borrows and does not repay” (NKJV). In this case your debt WOULD BE A SIN!

We also have a responsibility as STEWARDS. 1st Corinthians 4:2 declares, “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” A “steward” is “one who takes care of someone else’s property or money.” We, as believers, should view everything we have as belonging to God. In Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus told the “The Parable of the Talents” where a king gave money to his servants and told them to use his money wisely and to increase its worth. It teaches us to be GOOD STEWARDS. So, we should all be GOOD and FAITHFUL STEWARDS. Now let’s apply this to your situation. You have borrowed a lot of money to go to school in order to get a good job. If you are still in school we trust that you will finish school and then do all that you can to get good job. In other words DON’T WASTE THE MONEY THAT YOU HAVE BORROWED by not finishing school or by not using every means possible to find a job that you have been trained to do. May the Lord be glorified by you being a “good and faithful steward.”  (202.7)  (DO)