My mother helped me open my first savings account at our community bank. She encouraged me to save some of the few dollars that I earned mowing lawns for neighbors. Unfortunately, more recently the value of my dollars has begun to "go south!"

American author and humorist Mark Twain once said, "The holy passion of friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money." Recent trends in the global economy demonstrate that his wry assessment of the danger in borrowing applies to international relations as well as individual relationships.

A recent lead article in The Economist describes the steady decline of the American currency's value. "Much of the dollar's weakness is driven by economic fundamentals. Since peaking in 2002, it has fallen by 24% against a trade-weighted basket of currencies. Given America's need to borrow from abroad to finance its consumption, that is neither surprising nor sinister" ("The Panic About the Dollar").

The key word is consumption—using credit to buy products and services that don't increase the capacity of the borrower to repay the loan.

Alexander Hamilton, America's first secretary of the Treasury, advocated extending credit to the public so entrepreneurs could finance investment for business and manufacturing to produce revenue and build wealth. Borrowing just to spend should remind us of the warning that "the borrower is servant [slave] to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7).

The Economist warned of "America's thirst for overseas funding… For years it has spent more than it earns, running up large persistent current-account deficits. Last year the shortfall in America was a whopping 6% of GDP" ("Losing Faith in the Greenback"). Six percent sounds like a small number, but it is an incomprehensibly large sum in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Sadly, America's reputation has been greatly tarnished. The growth of irresponsible borrowing has been sped along by risky lending practices, such as "sub-prime" home loans that allow people to borrow more than they can possibly repay. Such practices are fueled by greed, and have led to the sharp decline of international confidence in the stability of the dollar.

Investors used to believe that America was a safe place to store money, but that "has taken a battering from the revelations of recent weeks…the sub-prime [mortgage] crisis has tarred the dollar as a sub-prime currency" ("The Panic About the Dollar"). Consider another simple warning: "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches" (Proverbs 22:1).

God promised His people that if they obeyed Him, He would bless them so abundantly that they would be the lenders of the world: "The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow" (Deuteronomy 28:12, emphasis added).

America is rapidly forfeiting this promise by choosing to live outside the boundaries of God's laws of finances and morality—increasingly removing Him altogether from her collective national conscience.

As a vertical thinker, learn the lesson that the United States is ignoring. Value your savings by honoring the true Source of your wealth. To better learn how to do that, read "Credit vs. Debt: Two Sides of the Same Coin." Remember: the governments that print the paper or mint the coins do not impart true worth—that comes from the great God who made us all. VT