“Give, and you may keep your friend if you lose your money; lend, and the chances are that you lose your friend if you ever get back your money.”
Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English Novelist in Forty Thousand Quotations, Prose and Poetical, compiled by Charles Noel Douglas (London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1917) 783. Bulwer-Lytton is the bloke who first inked the famous phrase: “the pen is mightier than the sword.”
A gift can set a friend free while a loan enslaves the friend and the relationship.
My mind goes to the times that I have heard about wealthy people thinking they are helping friends or ministries by offering them a loan. If you are holding such a note today rip it up with gratitude that God paid a debt you could never repay: His generosity set you free from your sins.
Since you are free, give generously and set others free.