The holiday season has begun again, and with it comes the temptation to go into debt to buy expensive Christmas gifts. This temptation becomes strong as people view enticing advertisements that make it seem as if happiness and lasting family memories will come only with the purchase of consumer goods.

But, as members of the Church know in their hearts, Christmas joy has nothing at all to do with costly gifts. It has everything to do with the gift of the Savior to the world. And lasting family happiness can actually be damaged, even destroyed, by runaway debt.

For too many people the world over, credit cards have become the vehicle of choice for making purchases. Banks and other lending institutions offer these liberally. Many consumers find several unsolicited credit card offers in the mail each week. Every one of them offers thousands of dollars in available spending cash for any purpose. Few, if any, say much about how the money is to be repaid.

But rest assured, it must be repaid, with interest.

People often joke about the time it takes to pay for their Christmas celebrations, but there is nothing funny about a family whose finances are burdened by large amounts of debt incurred for luxuries and frivolous items. Such a circumstance becomes tragic when the family provider becomes unemployed — a situation all too common these days as economies contract.

In the United States, bankruptcies may hit an all-time high of 1.6 million in 2001. The American Bankers Association reports that the number of people who are late in making credit card payments is up sharply over a year ago — and that is before the holiday season has had a chance to start.

Members of the Church have been warned time and again to avoid needless debt and to live modestly, despite pressures from the world. As President Ezra Taft Benson reminded more than 14 years ago, "Our inspired leaders have always urged us to get out of debt, live within our means and pay as we go." (Ensign, June 1987.)

Debt, and the interest that is charged on it, are concepts as old as the earth. In Old Testament days, interest was referred to as "usury." Prophets through the ages have counseled followers of Christ to avoid it unnecessarily. They also have, without fail, equated it with another powerful word — bondage.

"The rich ruleth over the poor," King Solomon said, "and the borrower is servant to the lender." (Proverbs 22:7.)

And so it is when modern consumers accumulate thousands of dollars in credit card debts at exorbitant interest rates. This bondage keeps people from using their income to accumulate wealth, and from doing great good with it.

In a recent feature on this problem, the Tampa Tribune quoted a chief economist for Raymond James Financial Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla., as saying, "You've got more than half of the households living paycheck to paycheck." Many of these people have no chance of getting atop their debt problems without counseling and, in many cases, a serious drop in their standard of living.

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling says a typical person who finally turns to a credit counselor owes more than $23,000 in debt and has an income of only $29,400 per year. Yet a wise consumer would make interest a servant, rather than the other way around.

The prophets have counseled that debt may be appropriate for some necessities, such as a home, an education or, where necessary, a car. But it should be avoided when incurred only in the pursuit of wants.

The Savior, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas and whose tremendous gift to all mankind is commemorated in the exchange of gifts, taught the world how to become free. He also cautioned, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21.)

Consumer debt puts too much treasure on the temporary glitter the world has to offer. Members of the Church should aim much higher.