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[Note: <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 3<\/strong> page.]<\/span><\/p>\n It is not unusual to hear all sorts of dishonesty and everyday cheating justified by the lame excuse, \u201cNobody got hurt.\u201d Abe Lincoln did not so reason. Remember the time he allegedly walked seven miles to repay two cents he had overcharged a woman while he was working as a clerk? Examples of common dishonesties abound in our times. Is it all right to take some of our employer\u2019s merchandise for personal use? After all, he owns a big company and won\u2019t<\/b> t even miss it. Besides, if I don\u2019t get caught who will it hurt?<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What about a student\u2019s schoolwork? What does it hurt if, on a test, a writing assignment, or even on homework, he\/she cheats to make a passing grade\u2014if one doesn\u2019t get caught? It does no harm either to the teacher or the school. Out of all the millions of tax forms e filed each year and the billions of dollars collected, surely the IRS won\u2019t miss a couple of hundred dollars worth of cheating on my tax returns! Others reason that a \u201clittle\u201d padding on their insurance claim won\u2019t do any harm. After all, the insurance company deals in millions of dollars every year, and one claim is only a drop in the bucket. Teenagers often fall into the trap of thinking they can take a side trip or two, although they have been instructed by their parents to \u201ccome straight home\u201d after school. What will it hurt if I don\u2019t get caught? \u201cNo harm, no foul,\u201d right?<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 True, such cheating and\/or theft may not hurt the employer, the insurance company, the school, the IRS, or the parents (although in many cases it does hurt all of these in some way). Even if I immediately hurt no one else, the cheater, hurts himself or herself.<\/b> The cheater forgets God\u2019s immutable law: \u201c\u2026for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap\u201d (Gal. 6:7).<\/b> When one proves unfaithful in \u201clittle things\u201d he advertises his lack of trustworthiness in \u201cbig things\u2019 (Luke 16:10).<\/b> Paul sternly commands, \u201cLet him that stole steal no more\u201d (Eph. 4:28).<\/b> A cheating student steals answers, a sneaking, disobedient child steals authority given to his parents, and one who \u201cfudges\u201d in his business affairs steals money. They are all in the same class and are foolishly destroying their own worth and honor. James Cockrell describes them:<\/span><\/p>\n Such a person is woefully immature as a human being. He is also cutting his own stupid throat. In an age when man is reaching for the stars, this person still lives in the Dark Ages. This person is a skulking pickpocket; and worst of all, a cipher, a zero, a nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n [Note:<\/strong> I wrote this article for and it was published in The Edifier, <\/em>weekly bulletin of Pearl Street Church of Christ, Denton, TX, February 26, 1987, of which I was editor.]<\/span><\/p>\n Attribution:<\/strong> From www.thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, proprietor, curator, and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Views: 1[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 3 page.] It is not unusual to hear all sorts of dishonesty and everyday cheating justified by the lame excuse, \u201cNobody got hurt.\u201d Abe Lincoln did not so reason. Remember the time…<\/p>\n