Chapter 50—A Call to Prayer or Change of Occupation

Dear Brother and Sister

I feel tender sympathy for you, and I am praying that you may see matters in a correct light. You must see that one should not manage his affairs in a way that will incur debt....

When a man sees that he is not successful, why does he not betake himself to prayer, or change his work? There are stormy times before us, and the Lord will accept all who can cooperate with Him. Practice self-denial and self-sacrifice. Consider every movement carefully and prayerfully. Walk softly before the Lord. We must preserve a devotedness to God, and make straight paths for our feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way.—Letter 63, 1897.

Counsel to a Colporteur

In your letter you complain of the yoke of debt. But there is no excuse for your being in debt.... Your freedom in borrowing, with no reason to suppose that you will be in a position to repay it, is doing great injustice to others, robbing them of their little all, and bringing reproach upon the cause of God. If you realized what you were doing at the time of your action, you would stop. You would see the sinfulness of robbing men, believers or unbelievers, and bringing them into strait places in order to relieve your present necessities.

This case of yours, Brother -----, is not a small affair. In the course you have pursued, you will leave upon the track of other canvassers a blighting influence, difficult for you to efface. You will have closed the door to other persons who would canvass, and do the work honestly, but who will be regarded as untrustworthy. To those who really need to have some indulgence and favors in the line of trust, because of the wrong course some canvassers have pursued, they dare not venture. And with the experience they have had, in the loss from the treasury of hundreds of pounds, why should they not be afraid to repose confidence in men who so manage as to draw from the treasury, and leave them minus the means they so greatly need to sustain the work of God for this time?—Letter 36, 1897.

Freedom Through Self-Denial

Be determined never to incur another debt. Deny yourself a thousand things rather than run in debt. This has been the curse of your life, getting into debt. Avoid it as you would the smallpox.

Make a solemn covenant with God that by His blessing you will pay your debts and then owe no man anything if you live on porridge and bread. It is so easy in preparing your table to throw out of your pocket twenty-five cents for extras. Take care of the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves. It is the mites here and the mites there that are spent for this, that, and the other, that soon run up into dollars. Deny self at least while you are walled in with debts.... Do not falter, be discouraged, or turn back. Deny your taste, deny the indulgence of appetite, save your pence and pay your debts. Work them off as fast as possible. When you can stand forth a free man again, owing no man anything, you will have achieved a great victory.—Letter 4, 1877.

Personal Debt Not to Hinder Liberality

Some have not come up and united in the plan of systematic benevolence, excusing themselves because they were not free from debt. They plead that they must first “owe no man anything.”(Romans 13:8^L) But the fact that they are in debt does not excuse them. I saw that they should render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. Some feel conscientious to “owe no man anything,”(Romans 13:8^L) and think that God can require nothing of them until their debts are all paid. Here they deceive themselves. They fail to render to God the things that are His. Everyone must bring to the Lord a suitable offering. Those who are in debt should take the amount of their debts from what they possess, and give a proportion of the remainder.—Testimonies for the Church 1:220.