That
ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the
Spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting
away lying, speak every man Truth with his neighbour for we are
members one of another. Ephesians, Chapter 4, verses 22-25.
This
passage is basically saying that once you become a Christian, you
should start living the life of a Christian, putting away your old
sinful behaviors. It makes me think of a time when I went to the
grocery store with coupons in hand; ready to cut my expenses big
time! I remember having a coupon for ten cents off of a particular
brand of raisins. I didn’t want that brand of raisins, though. It
probably was considerably more expensive even with the ten cent off
coupon. I ended up getting the cheaper box of raisins, knowing it
wasn’t the right brand for the coupon.
I
rationalized my actions, thinking it was only a dime. I gave the
cashier the ten cent off coupon deliberately mixed in between all my
other coupons, hoping she didn’t realize that I had substituted the
cheaper brand for the more expensive one.
She
told me the total for my groceries and I started writing my check and
had to stop. This situation impacted my life! The cashier didn’t
realize I was lying and was stealing by substituting the cheaper
brand of raisins for the coupon I used. I knew and what was worse,
God knew! Was my loss of integrity worth the ten cents I was saving?
(It’s funny how Satan can sneak up on some of us “Self-righteous
Christians,” in very subtle ways.)
I
immediately gave her ten cents for the raisins, telling her that I
was sorry I had gotten a more expensive brand than the coupon stated.
She told me not to worry about it, it was just a dime. I told her
that I wanted her to take the dime anyway, saying I knew I had taken
the wrong raisins and I wouldn’t feel right unless she took the
money. Actually, I thought she would be horrified that I would do
such a thing. I was prepared to be totally embarrassed by the
cashier’s reaction because I really deserved it, but it didn’t
happen that way.
I
didn’t have an obvious consequence for my actions. It was more the
realization that I was lying to God and myself. I was jeopardizing
my Salvation over money. I’m fortunate that God has this situation
pop back in my mind as a reminder from time to time. It’s
especially helpful when I’m a “Looking at the Angles Christian,”
figuring out some kind of angle to beat the system or I’m wording
things very carefully so that I’m not telling the whole truth in
situations, but not exactly telling a lie, either.
I’m
very thankful that God gives me a conscience to remind me when I
start slipping into old human ways again.
Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.
