Have you ever taken something that does not belong to you? Have you cheated someone out of something? Do you shortchange your employer by giving less than 100%? Do you borrow from your neighbor with no intent on returning what you borrowed?
Most of us despise thievery. Yet, we steal at times without thinking twice about it. Oh, we don’t call it stealing. We may even convince ourselves we are owed it. The charge for some of those offenses is fraud. We have cheated someone out of something, often an employer.
We see cases of fraud in the news quite often. They usually involve someone posing as someone they are not or fraudulently taking money from their employer. Sometimes the fraud is so subtle it goes undetected for months or years. The false pretenses are kept up for a while to cover up the fraud, but sooner or later it is discovered.
By and large, fraud is just another word for stealing. The difference is it isn’t armed robbery. It is sneaking money out of an organization, sometimes right under their noses. But make no mistake about it, whether we call it fraud or thievery, it is still disobedience to God’s commands.
I believe we have all stolen something at some point in our lives, even if it was merely taking a pen from our employer without permission. I once knew a Marine who did not even use government pens for his official duties. He bought and brought in all his pens because he did not want to mistakenly take a government pen home.
When we steal, it shows our lack of trust in God. If we believe we need to steal to provide for ourselves, we are not trusting God to provide. This is no simple decision. It is often a result of years of buildup. A small bit of doubt creeps in and grows into a distrust that convinces us there is no other way. We need to be aware of the doubt as soon as it starts creeping in.
I pray we all are aware of doubt when it first starts. I pray we put our trust in God to provide. I pray each one of us commits to keeping ourselves from fraudulent and thievery actions. Be on guard for doubt. Trust God. Do not steal. Do not defraud. Do not rob. Love your neighbor.
Leviticus 11a, 13a
“Do not steal.”…
“Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.”
Marty Pressey 