When God gave this commandment, I wonder if He knew how people would twist its meaning.\u00a0 Of course, He did, He’s God.\u00a0 I always imagine some child stealing a candy bar or a teenager shoplifting a sweater they can’t afford to buy.\u00a0 But, it encompasses so much more.<\/p>\n
Some things many people don’t think of as stealing, can creep into our lives.\u00a0 My children used to think I was quite the fanatic when I wouldn’t allow them to make copies of their music tapes for their friends.\u00a0 It is stealing from the earnings of the artist and the producers.\u00a0 You are allowed to copy one or two songs for personal use without violating copyright laws.<\/p>\n
Recently the news has reported college students cheating on their SAT tests.\u00a0 They are actually stealing answers for their own use.\u00a0 When a teen copies a friends report or looks on their test paper to get the answers; that also is stealing.<\/p>\n
It is obvious that we shouldn’t steal a car or rob a bank, but neither should we take away from an individuals income source.\u00a0 I have actually argued to pay admission to places when my children looked younger than they were.\u00a0 One year, when my son was 4, we all went to Cedar Point (a large amusement park on Lake Erie).\u00a0 The ticket man insisted that Jonathan was not 4 and should be let in free.\u00a0 We insisted that we pay the admission price.<\/p>\n
More recently, my husband and I got produce coupons from the state of Ohio.\u00a0 It was supposed to be based on income, but they told us outright that they didn’t bother to\u00a0check income.\u00a0 When I began to receive my Social Security check, it put us over the income limit.\u00a0 It meant we gave up $100. in free produce every summer, but we refused to apply.\u00a0 We wouldn’t even of had to lie, because they wouldn’t check, but we still were stealing from the program.<\/p>\n
Stealing can take many forms so we must be careful not to let this kind of dishonesty to work in us.\u00a0 In many cases, God and I are the only ones who would ever know, but He is the most important One to consider and I want to live and die with a clear conscience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When God gave this commandment, I wonder if He knew how people would twist its meaning.\u00a0 Of course, He did, He’s God.\u00a0 I always imagine some child stealing a candy bar or a teenager shoplifting a sweater they can’t afford to buy.\u00a0 But, it encompasses so much more. Some things many people don’t think of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,3],"tags":[42,11],"class_list":["post-1255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-encouragement","tag-choices","tag-convictions"],"yoast_head":"\n