When God says the same thing over-and-over in different ways, it is something like a parent telling a toddler that the stove is “HOT!” Don’t touch the stove! No, don’t touch! The following are Proverbs where God repeats the same instruction in different ways:

“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 ESV

“Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.” – Proverbs 11:15 ESV

“One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.” – Proverbs 17:18 ESV

“Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?” – Proverbs 22:26-27 ESV

God repeatedly says that cosigning for someone else’s debt is a snare, harmful and dangerous. God even says the person who does it “lacks sense.” It is loving to say “no” when someone asks you to cosign. The lender knows the risks better than you do, so trying to be nice to a relative or a friend by cosigning a loan is a hazardous thing. When you cosign, you are the borrower. The reason the person needs a cosigner is that the lender doesn’t want the risk. They want the high interest from the loan or the contract, but not the risk. Don’t be foolish to be friendly and loving. Find other ways to help.