The wicked borrow and don’t repay, but the righteous give generously. (Psalms 37:21)
Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely. (Psalms 112:5)
The one who is gracious to the poor lends to the LORD, and the LORD will repay him for his good deed. (Proverbs 19:17)
An old American proverb declares, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” While there may be some good sense in that statement, it is not a biblical position. The Scriptures direct the righteous to be lenders (but not borrowers). The verse above says to lend freely.
The problem with being a generous lender is that there are borrowers who don’t repay their debts leaving the righteous lender on the hook for the loaned money. The psalmist labels these folks “wicked.” Whatever they are called, the righteous lender is still the one who gets ripped off.
The last time I made a list, I think it was fifteen people I lent to who did not repay me. All were professed Christians too… and in some pretty big numbers! I used to waste time and energy grousing about those on my “deadbeat” list until I read in Jesus’ “awful” speech about loving enemies and going the second mile that we also were to “lend and not expect repayment” (Luke 6:34). Silly me. The reason I was stressed was because I obviously was expecting repayment.
It took me a number of years to get past the “not expecting repayment” factor. (Smile.) When making a loan, I have to say to myself, “This person may not pay me back. It’s okay, God. I know You will repay the loss”—and He has—every time. I haven’t missed a meal. When I have a stock investment do surprisingly well, I thank the Lord for the loan repayment and chalk it up to His blessing.
Principle: God always makes sure that generous, righteous lenders get repaid…from some source. He commonly covers the repayment Himself.
While I am on the subject, let me toss in some advice to those with outstanding payments on money you have borrowed. There are two absolute “musts.” First, you must communicate frequently and regularly. Silence communicates many messages…all bad (You don’t care. You’ve decided not to repay. All your other needs are higher priority than the loan repayment, etc.). Second, you must make some small regular payments (even $50 a month?) to show good faith. True deadbeats (the “wicked”) do neither of these things. They hide and make no partial payments.
A friend told me that his dad had some people in his world that he didn’t like and didn’t respect, so he would purposely loan them money. They wouldn’t repay, they’d hide, and he’d never see them again! He figured the money the borrower didn’t repay was a fair price not to have them in his life.
Principle: Failure to repay borrowed money costs you a lot more than the value of what was borrowed. It costs you your reputation and, most likely, a friendship.
I worked in a men’s wear store in high school and college. A poor farmer asked the store owner if he could buy a new suit and make payments of a dollar a week. The owner trusted him, and every Saturday morning when the farmer came to town, the first thing he did was stop by the store and make the one-dollar payment on his suit. You could set your clock by his visit.
As the farmer walked out the door one Saturday, the owner said to me, “I’d loan that guy anything he wanted. Then, I have these guys from Country Club Drive who charge hundreds of dollars worth of clothes, and I never hear from them again. They ignore my overdue invoices.”
[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]