Thinking about cutting corners? (1)

‘…Set an example…in life...’ 1 Timothy 4:12 NIV

Writer Kathryn Lay learned about honesty when she was on holiday in Texas. She and her husband were having lunch at a little restaurant when a lady walked in, handed her a dollar bill and said, ‘I’m sorry, but I short-changed you earlier.’ Recognising her as a sales assistant from a store she’d been in earlier Lay asked, ‘How’d you know I was here?’ Amazed, she learned that the woman had gone from store to store looking for her. Lay also tells about another man who returned a TV to the store and got his money back. Later, after realising the amount had also been credited to his Visa he did nothing. Lay writes: ‘Does God want us to be just a little honest…or only in certain situations…or only when someone’s looking? How much dishonesty is too much? Sometimes I’m the only person who knows whether I’m being honest or not. Do I keep the extra change, cheat on my expenses, ignore the double credit on my statement? Do I tell my daughter a white lie is still a lie, but later tell the police officer my accelerator stuck? When did honesty become an endangered species? Somewhere out there is a man who’s proud of the £700 he cheated a department store of. He probably laughs about it with everyone, including his daughter. And somewhere in Texas there’s a truly honest woman, whose story I rejoice in sharing with my daughter.’ Dostoyevsky said, ‘When we lie we lose respect for ourselves and for others. And when we’ve no respect for anyone we end up yielding to our impulses and indulging in the lowest forms of pleasure.’ So, ‘…Be an example…in the way you live…’ (1Timothy 4:12 NL.