For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals, [a.k.a. behaves,] dishonestly. Psalm 125:16 NIV Bible
Have I been a Christian, who doesn't live by their ethics? If I'm being truthful, I have to admit that I have! Some years ago, I used to totally be into collecting and redeeming coupons, in order to save a little here and there from my grocery bill.
One time, I wanted to purchase some canned pineapple, and I had a ten cents off coupon for canned pineapple. Unfortunately, the brand that the coupon was for, was much more expensive that the off brands, even if I had used the coupon. So, I deceitfully put the off brand can of pineapple in my cart, and stuck the ten cent off coupon in the middle of the stack of coupons I was going to redeem at the check-out counter.
The person at the register was unaware, and gave me the ten cent discount on the off brand pineapple, even when I didn't deserve it. But the way the Holy Spirit works in my life, is He nudges on my heart, and let me know that whether the lady at the cash register knew what I had done, the Lord God knew, and so did I. I quickly stopped her and told her that I had given her a coupon for a totally different brand of pineapple. She said not to worry about it, and wasn't going to add ten cents more to my total. Then, I had to explain to her how sorry I was, but that I knew I had turned in the wrong coupon, and I wasn't living according to my Christian ethics. How humiliating! This experience periodically comes back to me, but it also helps me try to focus on being a better example of the Christian the Lord God wants me to be.
