I hate dishonesty. It creates victims. I have lost money because I trusted people who were not honest. And I have met people who have been cheated out of their life’s savings by smooth-talking con artists.

God hates dishonesty too. Proverbs 11:1 says that “dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord.” This verse refers to people who cheated others in the marketplace. The overcharging may have amounted to only a few pennies per sale, but God hated this practice.

Honest people, on the other hand, do what they can to make things right, even when it costs them something.

I know a husband and wife who failed in their business and were forced to declare bankruptcy. This released them from a legal obligation to pay their bills, but they didn’t view it as releasing them from a moral obligation to their creditors. So they both worked, raised their family in a low-cost house, and lived frugally. It took years of hard work and sacrifice, but they paid off every debt.

Our honesty is always on trial. It is tested when we make out work reports, file income tax returns, and make a sale. May we be so aware of God in our lives that we will be a people of unquestioned honesty.

  — Herbert Vander Lugt