Should I Co-sign a loan for a friend or relative?

My brother cannot get a loan on his own and he has asked me to co-sign. Should I do it?
If your brother cannot get a loan on his own there is a reason for that. He obviously did not pay a loan back at an earlier date, or he has failed to keep up on some kind of paperwork. If he is unable to attain credit on his own it is likely because he did not respect some lending institution in the past, therefore can you hope that he will respect you as a lending institution?

If you care for your family and you are committed to refrain from all new debt you will not take on the responsibility of someone else’s debt either.

Well I can spare the money, and after all he is my relative. So he can pay me back whenever he can.
Yes, he is your relative. Therefore you should want the best for him. If you can spare the money, then give it to him. But give it as a gift not as a loan. If you give it to him as a gift then nothing is expected in return and there are no unholy ties associated with it. If you want to buy him a needed appliance, buy it and bless him with it. If you loan it however, on the premise that he ‘will pay you back someday’, you are opening up a door to the enemy in your brother’s life. There are laws that are set up about money. Just try to go get a loan at a bank on the premise that you ‘will pay them back someday’. Will they allow that? No. Because there needs to be a repayment schedule in place. When you make an agreement to pay back whenever you can, you break one of those laws that is associated to money. This causes a spirit of debt to now have access to your brother’s life. This will cause poverty and lack for him, so it is not in his best interest that you make any such agreement.

One should also make sure that you are not enabling this person. The Bible says, “if a man does not work, he should not eat.” If we are continually coming to the aid of the same individual we are rescuing him from the consequences of his actions. If we keep intervening, the Lord may just stand back and let calamity come on our own finances. This would be the only way to
a.) get our attention that we are doing wrong and
b.) bring the desired chastening to the brother who is out of line.

Revelation 3:19 tells us that “God rebukes those whom He loves.” It is better to avoid that rebuke through simple obedience. Let each man be accountable to God for his own actions. If he needs a co-signer he probably needs to step up to the plate on some old business and walk some things out. Let Jesus be this man’s rescuer. When he is diligent to work things through and faithful in the little that he has blessing will start to overtake him. That is what the Word of God says and that is our experience as well!