A wonderful bunch of responses. Think your "oath" is clearly delineated in the stack of legal papers you signed when you bought your home. If, for any reason, you are unable to fulfill the total puchase price of your home, the lending institution owns it. The banks, realtors and appraisers bear blame as well as the buyers for the great crash of the late 2000s. However, the buyers in nearly all cases were innocent in their intentions meaning to fullfill their terms of agreement. We are the first generation since the Great Depression to see their homes decline in value. Do not be too hard on yourself. The Lord knows your hearts.

Really? Come on people, if you agree to loan money, that's fine... but guess what, you also agreed if you can't or don't pay for WHATEVER reason then the bank gets your house. There is no morals involved..... if you walk away, you are still going along with the loan terms.... its only wrong if you kept living there and ALSO stopped paying your mortgage... you simpletons need to realize, the proverbs about borrower being slave to lender, is simply fact. duh. its not wrong to borrow, the lender always lends less than property value anyways.... if in this case he lender lent more than they should have... they were foolish. not you...

I'm in the same boat as Mulinda above. I'd like to know what happened. Personally, I feel that Jesus would have listened to the Holy Word and not became a slave to the Lender.

So did you walk away? I'm curious to what the final outcome was as I'm in a similar situation and struggling with the same questions.

Does Romans 8:28 mean anything to you? Are you really consulting wit Jesus on your investment? If I were you, I would consult Jesus - sincerely consult Jesus and leave the rest to him!

" Its clear in the Word that keeping your word is significant." John S.! How quickly and "effectively" we decide for others, don't we? Life is a bit more complicated, at times it's simply awefull and, fortunately, our Bible addresses this stuff in full. The Book warns the wicked, but provides mercy for burdened and repented folks. This circumstance is often overlooked by all kinds of "biblical financial advisers"... I am just one stubborn Ukrainian preacher here, so let me say that i am truly astonished by some specifics of an American religious culture. Which honors money so high that loosing them this way or another is a sin! much greater, sadly, than loosing one's virginity casually (forgive me, I am over, but are we not all adult people here?). However, the fact is that God, our Father, DOES NOT WANT anyone of His children to continue living in ANY kind of bondage, regardless of the level of wisdom they were able to apply; when signing certain documents or giving away their words of best intentions. Unfair? Sure, it is! This entire business of our salvation is so unfair, for it is done completely at His expense that we like to call it GRACE, in one wonderful word. The Bible explains itself perfectly, so let's take a look at the Scriptures, for the Law of the Lord is good (we know that from Ap. Paul's amazing revelations to Romans) Speaking about the situations like this one, the Law of our God gives us one particularly strong command:" “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’S remission has been proclaimed."(Deut.15: 1-ff, NASB) That's right! The precedent of a bankruptcy law of this country is based on this particular "Judeo-Christian value"! For the Lord wants Michelle and her family to be freed and not bound by this modern type of financial slavery! Dear Michelle, permit me to say this: you are not a "savior" of your neighborhood! but a good Christian Mother for your children, wife for your husband and Sister-in-Christ for all of us. It is evident that you did everything honestly to this point, now simply stop making your family another victim of this huge financial tread mill! There is true redemption of your situation in a Word of God! "...but if you are able also to become free, rather do that."(1 Cor. 7: 21) Now, would Jesus walk away from the morgage? Well, his mission was different from the very beginning. Our precious Savior most certainly came to pay ALL OUR greatest debts! Be blessed!

Would Jesus have committed to a one-fifth-of-a-million dollar mortgage and its interest over a 30 year period, even IF He were planning to sojourn on earth for that long? Proverbs 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. Proverbs 22:26-27 Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. Romans 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Matthew 6:19-20 Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal Galatians 5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Matthew 28:19 - Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

@justsomeguy, the article specifically asks what Jesus would do, as our model, in this situation. And yes, I think He'd like it if most of us were nomadic preachers, investing in the eternal worth of people instead of things.

The "prayerfull considered" part is noteworthy. There are plenty of people who bought homes pre-economic downturn at the top of their price range, or higher, and agreed in writing to variable interest loans that were unreasonable to pay, all with the bloated idea that the market would keep increasing home value up, up, up. I know people who did this because they bought into the idea that you get a job, get married and must then buy a house equvilant or beyond that of their parents, and also continue to induldge in the "necessities" like cable tv, SUVs, going out to eat, etc. Some of them got burned in the housing bust when their home values depreciated at the same time the ARM increased on their loan. If you're a prayerfuly discerning person, I think MUCH of this can be avoided. You are not buying out of your range, you're not indulging in everything teenagers get to do who live under their parents roof. Yes, people lose their jobs and default on homeloans. But I believe if you're seeking God and involving HIm in your decisions, you think about each decision and potential consequences. It doesn't opt you out of all risks, but it can reduce your likelihood of catastrophe. Thanks for the honest take. Maybe God wants you where you are for now. Maybe your reliance on him through this time will be something you'll look back on in later years and see more clearly.

Robyn's comments are right on, showing mercy and love to fellow Believers. It's not about the money. It's about the heart. It's about our choices. How we use the money God brings into our lives is a mirror of our heart condition. It might make no sense to the world for a family to continue paying on a mortgage for a house that has lost significant value, but we don't live by the world's standards. And on the flip side God's children do sometimes lose their homes. No one wants to be in that situation. I don't think anyone chooses that situation but life can change in a nano-second. What we thought was our future isn't. My family was faced with foreclosure but God has done some incredible miracles. I am going to put the link on this post for anyone who would like to read what happened in our situation: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8211623/are_you_up_to_being_tested.html?cat=7