Bankruptcy a Sin?

[Chrissy811]

Ladies


I was listening to a talk show late last night when the person who was a guest was saying that bankruptcy is a sin. I was wondering if you feel that is true. How about if it is a last resort? I have had 2 sisters that have filed bankruptcy basically because they married the wrong man( another topic in itself) and were carrying all or most of the financial load.

After bankruptcy they have learned to use better judgements and be better stewards of their money. And they say that they both have learned important lessons?

I was just wondering what you guys though about this?

 

[shinyblackhair]

I would say that one should definitely try their very best to pay off their debts or work out something with creditors. However, some cases are just too much and too stressful to bear. Some people contemplate suicide, due to overwhelming debts. I would rather see someone claim bankruptcy and start fresh then end their life because they thought there was no way out. Bankruptcy can provide a fresh start for those who are truly repentant about their past financial mistakes.

 

[sillygurl18]

Bad stewartship of your money is wrong, but people make mistakes. As long as you learn from them....

 

[BLESSED1]

I'd like to know this too. Are you referring to a specific Bible passage, or christian thoughts on the matter? My auntie and recently, my mom filed. I've been paying the majority of my mom's bills so she did try to pay off her debt, but unfortunately it was too much. She bought a nice, big house when I was younger, back when she was with my father. But she left him after he tried to kill her, and guess who's stuck with the big monthly mortgage payment...

 

[Chrissy811]

. Are you referring to a specific Bible passage, or christian thoughts on the matter? QUOTE]

Basically I was referring to christian thoughts on this. I have heard it many times but no one can give me a specific scripture to back it up. I basically feell that you should do what you can to pay debt, but when you are overwhelmed you may have to resort to it, but make sure it is a last resort and learn the lesson.

 

[Sweet C]

Hmm, good question. Here are some scriptures referring to debt:

Rom 13:8- Owe no one anything except to love one another

Mt 6:12- And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors

Mt 18:21-35- Is the parable of the servant who owed a great debt to his master

Luke 7:41-42- "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.

I guess I would liken bankruptcy to this parable in Luke 7. When you file bankruptcy, you are essentially asking your creditors via the government for forgiveness of the debt. When everything is settled, you most often don't have to pay any back (except student loans), and if something, it probably low enough for you to be able to repay. I think it could be looked at as a sin in a sense, b/c if it wasn't you wouldn't have to ask for forgiveness for it. As a Christian, you are to be a good steward of your finances, so if you had to file for bankruptcy, you are just asking the creditors for forgiveness and pray that the Lord forgives you (not for filing), but for not being a good steward, and pray that he teaches you how to be a good steward of your finances.

Oh, one more thing, as I was looking this up, I found out that according to biblical law (Torah), every seventh year was considered a year of release (Deuteronomy 15) during the Feast of Tabernacles. During this year, you are to release a brother of any debt (not a foreignor necessarily). I wonder if this is how our laws of bankrucpty were established (i.e. if u file, it takes 7 years to fully restore your damaged credit; it used to be that u could file every 7 years until they changed the law so that you as a person could essentially only file once).