THIRTY SAYINGS OF THE WISE
SAYING NUMBER THREE
“Do not be one who shakes 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.” (Proverbs 22:26–27, NIV)
The wise take heed to the warnings about
guaranteeing the loan of another person.
The old term was called suretyship.
It is becoming a partner in a binding agreement for another person
already in a binding contract. The
guarantor ensure that if the first party defaults, he or she will be good for
the debt. "A man must be the worst
kind of fool if he enters into business arrangements that will bring him to
penury [poverty] and leave him without even a bed to sleep in."[1]
"These verses remind us of the serious
consequences of being entangled in someone else's debt. You will probably have
to pay off the debt, and if you don't have the means or resources to do so,
then you are the one who will lose everything—down to your very bed!"[2]
Solomon has a lot to say about co-signing
for another person's loan:
“My son, if you
have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for
a stranger, you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of
your mouth. So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into
your neighbor’s hands: Go—to the point of exhaustion— and give your neighbor no
rest! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself,
like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the
fowler.” (Proverbs 6:1–5, NIV)
“Whoever puts
up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but whoever refuses to shake
hands in pledge is safe.” (Proverbs 11:15, NIV)
“One who has no
sense shakes hands in pledge and puts up security for a neighbor.” (Proverbs
17:18, NIV)
The safest thing to do is to say 'No'! Financial debts gone bad ruin friendships and
in the Church will dishonor the name of Christ.
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