Living debt-free is a way of life for me and my husband. It hasn’t always been that way. We have both had plenty of lean years in which we acquired credit card debt, drove cars with bald tires and purchased gas with the deposit money from returned soda cans.

I am thankful we can live debt-free, but having no expense write-offs at tax time can be a liability. With no expenses to declare against our income, our debt-free status increases our tax liability.

We have no children to declare, no mortgage interest and earned interest on retirement funds place us in a precarious situation with the tax collector, Uncle Sam. Our debt has been paid in full; we have a clean slate. We are no longer enslaved to things purchased on extended credit, college educations, car payments or a mortgage. Instead, we are enslaved to the laws of government bureaucracy that penalize a debt-free lifestyle.

Jesus came to redeem us from the law.

God sent His only Son, Jesus, to earth to pay our debt of sin. His shed blood washes our life clean; we are no longer indebted to the interest premiums of sin. A debt-free life in Christ generates benefits not penalties. You reap eternal life; earthly investments in the Kingdom of God yield untaxed dividends and late fees on unpaid sins are forgiven.

And then…

Satan and his evil bureaucracy arrive on the scene in an attempt to keep us from living free from the debt of sin. He longs to enslave us by the law and keep us indebted to the sins of our past. He charges late fees and collects interest on unforgiven sin; his ultimate goal is to keep us in bondage to the law, not grace.

“For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness (forgiveness) for everyone who believes.”
Romans 10:4
When filing your heavenly tax return, be sure to check the box that reads:

DEBT IS FORGIVEN. ANY PENALTIES OR LATE FEES DUE SHOULD BE SENT TO

IRS (Internal Redemption Services)
CO: Jesus, Purchasing Department
777 Redemption Road
Heaven, ETERNITY