We all grapple with the choice of right vs. wrong. Black vs. white. It is simply part of our daily lives.

But in life, as we all know, things aren't always black or white - there is often gray. Take the example of a former client who knows the moral struggle well - we'll call her Mary.

For 13 years, she paid the minimum balance due until she maxed out her credit cards on routine purchases such as shoes, clothes, haircuts, gifts, and purchases for her home-based business. Charges initially worth $5,000 resulted in a balance of $10,000, even after she increased her payments to $150 per month. Every day, she hid the mail before her husband could see her predicament, and she remembers wishing that "I could go to sleep and not wake up." Yet she kept paying back her debts at close to 20 percent interest.

"I did think, 'I signed up for the credit card. I used it. I have a moral obligation to pay this,' "Mary says. "If I didn't feel some moral obligation, I would have told these debt collectors to take a hike." But after a creditor told her she was incurring debt faster than she could pay it down, she divulged her secret to her husband, and sought protection under Chapter 7.

"I must have paid [creditors] way over $20,000 for a $5,000 debt," Mary says. "Knowing in my heart that I paid everybody that I owed the original amount plus a reasonable amount of interest, I don't feel any guilt about having filed bankruptcy. I wish I had done it a lot sooner."

The question most people ask themselves is "Am I living up to my original promise?" But many experts agree that the circumstances surrounding the original loan are sometimes suspect to a degree that they nullify a borrower's moral duty to repay.

It has been said that the people whom creditors often solicit are high-risk customers with considerable vulnerabilities. Granted, by contract, they owe the money. But what's the validity of offering a lollipop to a diabetic? Or offering a cigarette to someone who's addicted to nicotine? They simply are not on an equal footing, and therefore the moral validity of the contract is questionable in the first place.

What The Bible has to say about bankruptcy

The bankruptcy laws are there for a reason. On the whole, they benefit both debtors and creditors. It is of course important to be responsible for the debts you incur, but filing a bankruptcy is an act of responsibility. It puts you in a position to move forward, to become productive once again. It provides closure, and when applicable allows your creditors to be paid from your non-exempt assets (or by other means if the court so approves in a Chapter 13 context).

It is important to seriously explore bankruptcy as an alternative to years of struggling with debt to no avail. There are many factors to consider before filing a bankruptcy, but one of them should not be a guilty conscience.