*Allow me to give you a quick peek behind the curtain. In my own studying through Proverbs, I’m already to chapter 11. We’ll get there eventually. I’ve written up post seeds through chapter 10. I write those when I study a particular passage long in advance of when I actually write a post to go live. That way, when it comes time to write the rest, I have a memory jog for where I had intended to go at the time. Well, I had intended for this post to go live this past Monday. But I had started working on it back at the beginning of July when I pivoted to summer reruns instead. As a result, it was buried in the middle of a long list of post seeds. When I didn’t see it, although I didn’t remember getting into chapter 6 before the break, I assumed I had and went on. I finally discovered the mix up yesterday. So, here it is a few days late. Enjoy!

“My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor or entered into an agreement with a stranger, you have been snared by the words of your mouth—trapped by the words from your mouth. Do this, then, my son, and free yourself, for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power: Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor. Don’t give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids. Escape like a gazelle from a hunter, like a bird from a hunter’s trap.” (Proverbs‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

I am not a financial guru. I know a few basics, but when things start to get very detailed, my eyes glaze over and all of the information starts soaring right over my head. Fortunately, those basics are pretty sound so as to keep me out of trouble. Don’t spend more than you make. Invest and save judiciously. Put sacrificial generosity first. Don’t go into debt for anything except possibly a car or a house. As we get into Proverbs 6 today, we’ll find Solomon offering a potpourri of advice. His first stop is bad financial arrangements. Let’s take a look at what he has to say.

One of the best and most memorable pieces of financial advice I ever heard came from my former pastor. I don’t know for sure if it was original to him, but he had a real knack for pithy sayings like this, so I’d believe it. It goes like this: If your outflow exceeds your intake, your upkeep will be your downfall. Whenever he said it in a sermon he always included the obvious motions to make it even stickier. Out—in—up—down. Anybody can remember that.

And, the statement has the added benefit of being true. If you spend more than you make, eventually you’re going to run out of money. Now, this being true doesn’t mean people actually try to live this way. No, we are a bit of a financial wreck as a people. That goes nationally, of course, as our debt continues to skyrocket, our politicians don’t seem to have any interest in honestly addressing the problem, and voters punish any who do by kicking them out of office, so there’s no real incentive for them to try.

The last major politician to meaningfully try to have an honest conversation about the problem and deal with it legislatively was accused of literally trying to push grandma off a cliff and soon retired from Congress. That was Paul Ryan. Imagine what kinds of memes and ads would have been created for that in a day of AI video generation. Yikes!

The “solution” most folks (and nations) use to address the problem of outflow exceeding intake is to take on debt. The position of the guys who contributed to the Scriptures on debt is not very positive. Later on in Proverbs we’ll encounter the warning that the debtor is slave to the lender. Taking on unwise and unnecessary debt is risky at best. Generally speaking, if you can’t afford something, you shouldn’t buy it.

Notice I said “generally speaking” there. The odds are pretty high that you will never be able to afford to pay cash for a house. Especially nowadays. That’s one bit of debt you almost assuredly won’t be able to avoid. The same goes with a vehicle, although a decent used vehicle that falls within your range of affordability is wiser than a fancy, new one you’ll be paying off for years. Outside of that and perhaps a business loan if you are starting a new business, you should probably avoid debt if at all possible. And if you have debt, you should aim to get that paid down and off as quickly as possible. Personally speaking, other than those two major sources of debt, we have never carried any debt at any point in our 21 years of marriage.

What Solomon warns against here is different than normal debt. What he is talking about is taking on debt for someone else. That’s a whole other deal. If taking on debt generally makes you a slave to your lender, taking on debt for someone else makes you a slave to their lender for them. And if they don’t make the payments, you will be the one left holding the bag. In other words, you have become not only a slave to the lender you owe, but to the willingness of this other person to pay what you owe on their behalf. “You have been snared by the words of your mouth—trapped by the words from your mouth.”

Solomon’s strong advice here? Don’t do this. And if you have done it, get out of the arrangement as quickly as possible. “Do this, then, my son, and free yourself, for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power: Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.” This isn’t something you can wait on. Until you are out of this trap, you are beholden to forces that are beyond your control. You don’t want to stay in that situation a second longer than is absolutely necessary. “Don’t give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids. Escape like a gazelle from a hunter, like a bird from a hunter’s trap.”

Don’t let a sob story take you in because you can be sure the other person has one. It doesn’t matter if it is a friend or a neighbor or a family member. Even your own child shouldn’t trigger you to do this. Now, even as I write that, I am fully aware that we have been the beneficiaries of help paying down car debt. But the difference between what our situation and what Solomon describes here is that the help we received was entirely voluntary and our name was on the debt line. If something went sideways, it was our debt in our name. The ones extending the help we gratefully received have been wise enough to take Solomon’s advice to heart even as they were abundantly generous with us.

Following in this good example, parents, if your adult children can’t afford something they want, don’t take on debt for them in order for them to have it. Instead, let them learn an important lesson: you shouldn’t purchase something you can’t afford. And if you have to take on payments for something, don’t take on payments you can’t afford. Make them put their name on the line. They need to shoulder that responsibility and feel its weight. It doesn’t matter if you can afford it just fine. Let them be adults. Don’t fund their attempt to draw out their adolescence long after that season should have ended.

The ultimate truth about our finances is that God owns everything. Everything we have really belongs to Him. It is on loan to us as a result of His graciousness and generosity. We are His stewards to manage it on His behalf. This means that we need to be wise with our finances it. We need to use the resources we have at our disposal to bring Him glory in whatever application we apply them. We need to not only pursue good and godly stewardship, but we need to encourage it in others so they can do the same. Good stewardship practices should be part of any discipleship program we pursue. This grows and strengthens God’s kingdom in ways that matter. Let’s do it.