We live in a credit based world. Credit card offerings fill our mailboxes, and as an added incentive, many companies now offer reward points, flyer miles, or a miniscule percentage of "cash back." It's difficult to resist the temptation to "buy now, pay later." Consequently, when a genuine emergency—such as a major illness—occurs, even the most cautious consumer can quickly find himself overwhelmed with debt.
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Getting Out
Even with recent changes in bankruptcy laws, many so-called debt counselors, as part of their counseling strategy, often suggest bankruptcy as an alternative for a fresh start. It is, however, neither the best nor the Biblical way of bringing your debt under control.

Paying Back the Real Debt
Simply avoiding your debt or dumping it onto American taxpayers is contrary to Christian management principles. However, when a person runs into financial hardship, credit card companies immediately reclassify the individual as high risk and raise the interest rates to ensure collecting as much of the bill as possible. The federal limit is now 42%. At rates of 30% or more, if a person is only able to make the minimum payment, the principle will continue to increase even if he stops using the card. The mounting debt makes bankruptcy look like the only way out.

Debt Consolidation vs Debt Negotiation
Two alternatives to bankruptcy are debt consolidation and debt negotiation. Debt consolidation means taking a single large loan to pay off all the other bills. This can be effective if:

The advantage of a debt consolidation loan, if your credit is not already damaged, and if you can pay it off quickly, is that it does not negatively impact your credit.

Debt negotiation is the most effective means of eliminating debt. You work with a company that negotiates with your creditors for 40% to 60% of your outstanding balance. Then, you pay the company who takes a small commission for themselves for the first year. The rest of the money usually goes into a trust fund to pay the agreed upon amount to the creditors. Your credit—which is usually already ruined by then—is negatively impacted for a period of time. However, once the debt is eliminated, you can rebuild your credit rating without the shadow of bankruptcy hanging over your account.

Debt negotiation requires faith, patience and persistence. Creditors may accept your negotiator's proposal but then simply sell your loan to another bank. The new bank will then start calling you in an attempt to get payments directly from you. One lawyer said that he had seen accounts sold every month; the new company holding your debt has to be sent the contact information for your negotiators. Then, you have to just sit tight, make your payments, and if you do receive a call from your creditors, take no action other than to refer them to your negotiating attorneys.