Most of us can quote 1 Timothy 4:10 without even opening our Bibles, and this is because it’s a Scripture preached, talked about, quoted, scrutinised, and dissembled, and misread on a regular basis by Christians and non-Christians around the world. It reads: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (NIV) For this article, we’re going to stay with the theme of credit cards, but we’re going to talk about how maxing out those pesky pieces of plastic can actually indicate a lack of trust in God—and a love of money that leads to all kinds of evil.

If you can’t repay it, it’s stolen. We teach our children that borrowing something with no intention of returning it is the same as stealing, but we adults are guilty of doing just that from time to time. Although this also applies to tithing, most people spend until their credit cards are maxed out even when they know that they can’t afford to make the payments. Instead of trusting God to provide for our needs (and our wants in some cases), we try to make things happen on our own and wind up accumulating a massive amount of debt very quickly.

Credit cards usually replace emergency funds. The emergency fund is your money, which you have earned and saved, and designated for use in special situations. When a circumstance arises resulting in a bill that you can’t pay, most people choose to “put it on the card” and pay it later instead of using savings or emergency funds. This is what they are designed to cover! Now, that’s not to say that we should break out the emergency funds every time we want a manicure or new tool for the garage, but if the water main ruptures or your oldest son accidentally kicks the football through a window of the house, then you are covered.

Most people see credit cards as handy short-term loans. In fact, most spend credit card limits with the intention to repay it later, never thinking about what this will do to the budget, or where the money will come from “later.” It is commendable to pay the minimum balance every month, but it is smarter to avoid using them in the first place. After all, in these cases, later becomes never, and before you know it, you’ve paid $15,000 or more on your measly $2,000 credit card line. That’s crazy!

So how do these facts indicate that credit cards indicate a love of money? Simply put, if you have so little control over money that you spend far more than you can pay just to be sure you have everything you want, God is not in control of your finances. In fact, not only is God not in control, you are not in control at all, and this is dangerous ground regardless of whether you are married or single.

Cut up the cards, pay them off, or don’t get them in the first place. Those are really your only options on the road to financial freedom.

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