Cosigner beware!

“My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger,”
-Proverbs 6:1

There are a couple of stories I could tell with this one, one of which is a little close to home right now. Many years ago, I helped a woman get a car and put my name on the title as well as hers. Just today, though I haven’t spoken with this woman in years, I was on the phone, trying to get my name off of a fine incurred when she was caught by a red light camera.

Most of the other stories I could tell, however, come from my own debt. I was more foolish with my money when I was coming out of college. Add to that the fact that I wasn’t really making very much of it, and we have a problem. The problem wasn’t terrible – I didn’t have tens of thousands of dollars in debt or another (unless you count student loans) – but it was bad enough.

Except for those student loans and a car, the debt is gone, I am pleased to say. I have to say, the difference is tremendous. There’s a definite freedom to not having a credit card payment. The car should be (God willing) paid off in a couple of months, which should prove an even greater freedom.

Money is an important topic in the Bible, but not in the same way that many think. The Bible is not a how-to guide to getting rich. God doesn’t promise that we will be rich. But it does give us some instruction on stewarding money.

And that’s the big concept. We have no money of our own, really. It’s all God’s money, and He lets us use it. He encourages us to be wise with it, not to waste it foolishly. He wants us to be generous, but also smart. He warns against debt or being a cosigner for a debt simply for greater spiritual reasons.

The reason is that our lives are borrowed from Him just as much as our money is. If we are Christians, then we have been bought by the Blood of Christ. Paul reminds us that “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Corinthians 7:23). Isn’t that what we do when we borrow foolishly or cosign a loan for someone else foolishly? Become slaves of men?

When we enslave ourselves financially, our efforts become directed to that rather than directed to Christ. So Solomon tells us to work toward freeing ourselves. Don’t refuse to pay your debts or something like that, but work toward freedom.

And in all of this, we should remember the biggest debt of them all. In sin we owed a price that would take eternity of torment to pay. In our lust, pride, hatred, and greed we have offended a just and sinless God. It is a debt terrible to consider.

Jesus came to earth and died upon the Cross to free us from that debt. In death, He took our sins upon Himself and paid the price we owe. If we repent of our sins and believe in Him, He will wash us clean by His Blood and give us eternal life. To flee this debt, we need only flee to Him.