Proverbs 22:26

This verse comes from Proverbs, a collection of wise sayings in the Hebrew Bible traditionally associated with King Solomon. "Striking hands in pledge" was an ancient formal gesture — essentially a handshake sealing a financial agreement, similar to cosigning a loan today, where you become personally responsible for someone else's debt if they default. "Putting up security for debts" meant pledging your own assets as a guarantee for another person's obligation. This verse is a flat warning: don't do it. The verse that follows (Proverbs 22:27) explains the stakes — if the debt can't be paid, creditors can seize even your most basic possessions.

Lord, give me the courage to be wise even when generosity feels like the obvious answer. Protect me from commitments made in haste, guilt, or pressure. Teach me how to love the people around me in ways that don't put at risk what You've placed in my care. Amen.

Proverbs is refreshingly blunt about money. It doesn't say "pray about it" or "trust God to provide" — it just says: don't do this. Don't shake hands on someone else's debt. There's something almost countercultural about ancient wisdom that refuses to spiritualize a bad financial decision. The handshake felt like loyalty. The pledge felt like friendship. Proverbs cuts through the feeling and names the trap. The pressure to cosign, to back someone up, to be the responsible one who says yes when everyone else hesitates — that pressure is real, and it almost always comes from someone you love, at the worst possible time. But wisdom here isn't asking you to be indifferent. It's asking you to be honest. Because sometimes the most loving thing you can offer isn't your signature on a loan — it's a clear-eyed conversation about why you can't, and what you genuinely can do instead. "I can't do this, but I love you" is a complete sentence. This verse gives you permission to say it.