I can't say I am overly religious, but when I first heard Proverbs 22 verse 7, it hit me like a ton of bricks: The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
Most people will only ever read the first portion of that verse where it talks about the rich ruling over the poor. They can't see past that part: The rich are ruling over me. My life sucks. It's because of the rich people. The rich are evil.
What a sad philosophy to live by. Yes, the rich are often times lenders, but they do not necessarily lend money to rule over people.
The part - and I believe this to be the important part - that most people miss is where it puts the ball in our own court. It says the borrower is slave to the lender. Sure we have a million excuses as to why we are in debt but truth remains: We will remain slaves until we pay off that debt.
This hit me so hard when I first started to understand that. Now that we know how to not be slaves any longer, it is on us - not the rich - to become freeman. And it is on us to remain free.
Heck, it is even on us to become rich if that is what we desire. No one else - not the rich, not the government, or your (ex)spouse - is responsible for it. It's all 100% on us.
Sure, some people get lucky breaks, but they are not something to be counted on. Unless of course you work crazy hard, in which case you tend to get luckier. In the words of Thomas Jefferson: I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have. [Source]
