Walking with the Wise #280: Don't Be Dumb

“One who lacks sense gives a pledge

and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.”
—Proverbs 17:18

How much are we to give ourselves to others? Some will say, “Until it hurts.” And while the answer seems Christlike, it can be foolish if one doesn’t consider oneself before others. What I mean is this: on a plane, when getting ready to fly, the flight attendants give instructions on what to do in case of an emergency. If, for whatever reason, the cabin loses pressure, oxygen masks drop from the ceiling. Parents are instructed to put their own masks on first and then their children's second. Why? Because their children need them, and the best way to take care of their children is to take care of themselves first.

Today’s passage uses the same principle. Pledging ourselves to help our neighbor financially can be a good thing, but only if one has the means to do so. If we put up a pledge, or let’s say, agree to cosign their loan, there exists the very real possibility that they might default on the loan, leaving us to have to pay for it. If we really don’t have the ability to pay it, then we are going to find ourselves in financial need. We are only to help others in cosigning or giving a pledge to them when we know that we have the means to do so. Anything else is foolishness. As the proverb says to the one who cosigned something foolishly,

“My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

have given your pledge for a stranger,

if you are snared in the words of your mouth,

caught in the words of your mouth,

then do this, my son, and save yourself,

for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.

Give your eyes no sleep

and your eyelids no slumber;

save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

like a bird from the hand of the fowler.”

—Proverbs 6:1-5

Give yourself to others and love them, but don’t do so foolishly. If God has convicted your heart to give or help, then do it! But don’t do it if you don’t have the means, because God will not call you to do something that contradicts His Word and would put you in a foolish position!

Love God, love others, take care of yourself and your family, then ask God to see if such a decision to help another in financial need is the wise thing for you and them.

Sometimes people get loans for foolish things; helping them out to acquire them is a very foolish action on our part and we become participants in their sin. If there is a real need, ask God and examine the Scriptures to see what He has said on the subject, then honor God and He will honor you. God is sovereign and He doesn’t need you to help that person, but He may choose to use you. Entrust yourselves to Him, look to His Word, seek Him in prayer, and then be ready to obey whatever He has called you to do. Amen.