Billy Graham: Financial debt is a spiritual problem revealing greed

Financial debt is something the Bible has repeatedly warned about because it reveals the sin of greed, according to Rev. Billy Graham.

The evangelical leader discussed the issue of financial debt Saturday, June 11 on the website for the organization he's founded, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Graham agreed that financial debt messes up one's life and revealed that God warned His people about this.

"No wonder the Bible warns us against excessive debt," he wrote.

He also quoted Romans 13:8. It reads, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another."

He revealed that aside from ruining one's life, debt also signifies a deep spiritual problem. He said it reveals "our desire for the things that money can buy."

"The Bible has a word for this: greed," he noted.

He went on to say that no one would want to be labeled as such, but this is exactly the very thing that a person reveals when one becomes enslaved by fleeting pleasures that the person can't even afford in the first place.

He quoted a Biblical warning from Proverbs 15:27 that still resonates in the present times. It goes, "The greedy bring ruin to their households."

Almost a year ago, Graham also preached against the dangers of debt. He also talked about how God tried to warn His people about these dangers.

"Perhaps our schools need to do more to alert young people to this, particularly since credit cards and other ways to incur debt are so readily available today," he said as he noticed how easy it has become to be under debt through credit cards.

Back then, he referred to what the desires acted out by irresponsible spending through credit cards symbolized. He pointed to covetousness.

"Covetousness is a sin because it makes things more important to us than God," he said.

To get oneself out from financial debt, Graham instructs to make God and not material things or the desire for such as the priority in one's life. He then mentioned practical steps such as sticking to a realistic budget, cutting up or locking away credit cards if needed, and devising a way to pay off the debts.