Losing Your Shirt

(Proverbs 20:16 KJV)  Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

Notice who is being condemned here.  It is not the person taking the loan but the one making it.  Don’t get confused, it is not saying it is okay to borrow.  It isn’t but that is covered many other places.  Here the warning is for the one who guarantees the loan. 

One of the reasons that credit is getting so out of hand in our country is that people are covering the spenders.  The credit card companies carry the spendthrifts.  They must figure they will get enough interest along the way to make the risk worthwhile.  The government guarantees house-of-cards loans and encourages people to live beyond their means.  It is everywhere.  God says no.

So?  Don’t co-sign.  That is obvious.  What isn’t so obvious is the ways in which we support political and social actions that shield people from their own irresponsible decisions.  Or maybe we could say the same about the children we spoiled.