Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

Proverbs 6:5

The 6th chapter of Proverbs has a lot to say about freedom in finances. You can read Proverbs 6:1-11, and learn a lot about how to be wise or foolish with money. Thankfully, God gave us wisdom about how to change our behavior from being foolish so that we can become wise.

If you have gotten in debt… God says to free yourself like a gazelle…

or like a bird from a hunter.

How do both the gazelle and the bird escape almost certain death? They run for their lives. If you are in debt, you have fallen into a hunter’s trap. But, thanks be to God, that doesn’t have to be the end of the story. With God’s help and grace, and intense focus and determination, you can run for your life and become free.

When I graduated college, I had something like $40,000 of debt. I also needed a car, so I borrowed another $10,000 for a car. But, thankfully I was working for a church that wanted all their staff to deal with their finances well and Biblically. They enrolled all the staff in Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey. When I caught the vision of becoming debt free and living like no one else, so I could live like no one else… I was ready to start. I saved $1000 in a temporary emergency fund. I got on a budget. I started paying cash for things, from money that was designated in my budget to certain categories, so I would know where my money was going.

Josh and I got married, and we went through FPU together (again for me). He got on board, and together we paid off all our debt (he had about $30,000 in college loans as well) and have now saved a full 6 months of expenses in a full fledged emergency fund. We are saving 15% of our income for retirement. We are giving about 15-20% of our income away. We are also going on a 2.5 month trip around the world trip – PAID IN FULL.

You can do it too. You don’t need to be superhuman to get out of debt. Paying the debt is the hard part. We had to give up things we wanted. I sold my car that I loved. We postponed buying certain things. But it’s possible, especially with God. The Bible is clear:

The borrower is slave to the lender.

Proverbs 22:7

I pray that you would see the danger of debt and be like the gazelle, who outruns that fastest hunter in the world, and lives.

A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge,
but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

Proverbs 22:3

If you are interested in changing your financial situation, and want some help… check out a series that LifeChurch did recently. In 3 half-hour segments it will give you a taste of Financial Peace University for free. I highly recommend Dave Ramsey’s FPU, which you can sign up for in your local area here.