God sees what men do not see. God remembers what men forget. God hates dishonest gain. God will avenge those who are defrauded. God is watching every day how you treat people. God says: Do not take advantage of another person. Do not use another person's ignorance, trust, poverty, or weakness against him. Do not deceive him so that you can gain what belongs to him **in any matter.**
God is not merely talking about stealing someone's wallet. Defrauding also includes: dishonest business, deceptive advertising, false promises, hidden charges, fraudulent measurements, manipulating contracts, dishonest wages, taking advantage of desperation, concealing important information, false representations, cheating customers, cheating employees, cheating employers by being lazy or by time card fraud, exploiting the poor, or deliberately creating a false impression so that someone gives you more money than he otherwise would. God says: Do not trick people so that you can get what belongs to them. The Lord is THE AVENGER of all such.
You might successfully deceive a customer, employee, neighbor, poor person, business partner, elderly person, or stranger, and escape human consequences. But YOU cannot escape God's eyes. A dishonest transaction may be hidden from men, but it is never hidden from God. God not only sees the action, but He sees the heart behind the action. The Bible repeatedly connects dishonest gain with **greed**. He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house. The problem isn't just a dishonest scale. The deeper problem is the **greedy heart that wants more than God has given. The dishonest scale is only the instrument. Covetousness is the engine driving the dishonest deed. A greedy person first says in his heart: I want more, then how can I get more? Then, How can I get it without them noticing? And finally: It doesn't matter whether it is right. That's how greed becomes deception. God hates dishonesty even when it is legally clever. The greedy heart devises a plan, Can I get away with this? The question should be: Is this righteous before God? A dishonest person will ask: Is this legal? But a righteous person will ask: Is this honest? and a godly person goes even further: Would I gladly do this if Jesus Christ were standing right here beside me? But JESUS not just beside, He sees your heart,
God hates the False Balance: The crafty merchant had one weight for buying and another for selling. When purchasing: He makes the weight heavier. When selling: He makes the weight lighter. So he received more than he gave. The merchant is saying: I want one standard when it benefits me and another standard when it benefits you. The modern day equivalent to this may not be a literal scale. It can be: different rules for yourself and your customer; different standards for yourself and your employee; hiding defects from someone while demanding disclosure from them; demanding honesty from others while excusing your own dishonesty; charging someone more because you know they don't understand the market; exploiting someone because they desperately need something. The Simple Truth: God wants you to use the same honest ruler for yourself that you use for everyone else.
GOD wants your "Yes" to mean "Yes." The Bible condemns when we deal falsely, and lie one to another. If you say: This is what it costs, it should be true. If you say: This is what I will do, then you should do it. If you say: This is what I know about the product, then you shouldn't knowingly conceal something important. If you make a promise: Keep your word.
God is especially concerned about exploiting the needy and weak. God pays particular attention to people who cannot easily defend themselves. If someone is poor, elderly, ignorant, desperate, trusts you, don't exploit him. If someone doesn't know enough to recognize your deception, that is not permission for you to deceive that person. This is the opportunity for you to do Justly, and to demonstrate Mercy. God doesn't accept the excuse: "they should have known better" as an excuse to cheat them. A dishonest person might say: It's their fault for not knowing. But THE BIBLE repeatedly condemns the greedy person who deliberately takes advantage of another person's disadvantage. If you know something important that the other person does not know, righteousness does not ask: How much can I make from their ignorance? Righteousness asks: How can I deal honestly with them? God hates greedy gain. The greedy heart says, I want as much money as I can get, regardless of whether another person's well-being is harmed.
Money becomes spiritually dangerous when the heart says: I must have more. Then your conscience begins to become an inconvenience. What was once shocking at the start becomes normal, and you become past feeling, and filled with greediness. Greed can gradually **deaden your conscience**.
The scariest part is when you become accustomed to sinning against God. At first, a sin may trouble your conscience, they you repeat the sin, and eventually your conscience becomes seared and quiet, then you no longer feel much guilt, and then you begin to enjoy and defend the vile acts. Finally you may call evil just a business deal. Never tolerate what God calls a Sin. If your conscience convicts you about dishonesty, don't silence that conviction: Thank God for the warning, Confess it to God, Repent quickly, Make things right with God as soon as possible.
God remembers what you forget. “Surely I will never forget any of their works.” Think about that. The dishonest merchant may forget the customer. The customer may forget the transaction. The employee may forget the unfair treatment. Years may pass. The business may close. The money may be spent. The paperwork may disappear. Human memory may fade. But God says: “I will never forget.” This Bible verse should make both the crafty businessman tremble and the oppressed person take comfort. God sees the "small" cheat. God cares about every detail; He's not like you at all. You may say, It's only a little cheating. But God says: A false balance is abomination to the LORD. The amount may be small, but the principle is enormous. Do not merely ask: How much did I steal? But ask: Did I knowingly act dishonestly?
God delights in Just weights. “A just weight is God's delight.” *God delights in Honesty.* God delights when: you tell the truth; you give someone what you promised; you charge fairly; you pay fairly; you measure honestly; you disclose what needs to be disclosed; you refuse dishonest profit; you correct an error that benefits you; you return money that isn't yours; you refuse to exploit another person's ignorance. God finds this very beautiful. Simply put: God wants you to love people more than money. When money and another person's welfare come into conflict, the greedy heart says: How much can I get? The righteous heart says: What is right? The greedy heart says: How can I profit from this situation? The righteous heart says: How can I deal justly, fairly, mercifully? The greedy heart says: They'll never know. The righteous heart says: God sees and knows. The greedy heart says: I can get away with it. But Faith says: I must answer to God.
Your daily business dealings with people are especially important to God. God cares about: your worship, your prayer, your Bible reading, your marriage, your speech, your work, your money, your purchases, your selling, your contracts, your treatment of employees, your treatment of customers, your private and public life. You cannot say: This is business; God doesn't apply here. But God does care.
Your daily business dealings with people are especially important to God. God cares about: your worship, your prayer, your Bible reading, your marriage, your speech, your work, your money, your purchases, your selling, your contracts, your treatment of employees, your treatment of customers, your private and public life. You cannot say: This is business; God doesn't apply here. But God does care.
God wants you to be the same person in secret that you are in public. A dishonest person may appear righteous before people. But God's standard is: Maintain Integrity when nobody is watching. That is where your heart is truly tested. Ask yourself: Would I do this if no human being could ever discover it? If the answer is No, then ask: Why would I do it when God can see it? Do not Defraud your neighbor. Defraud not - Do not take something from another person by deception or unfair advantage. God wants you to see the other person not merely as: a customer, a buyer, a seller, an employee, a competitor, or a source of money, but as a *human being made by God.* Don't just look at a person and see a wallet or bank account. God wants you to see a Soul.
A Christian should not ask: What's the minimum honesty required so I don't get caught? The Christian should ask: What would love require of me? Jesus summarized the entire moral Law in one sentence: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Therefore: Don't do to another person what you would hate for them to do to you. If you were buying a car, would you want the seller to hide a defect? Then don't hide it when you're selling. If you were the customer, would you want the seller to manipulate you? Then don't manipulate your customer. If you were the employee, would you want your employer to withhold your rightful wages? Then don't withhold what belongs to your employee. This is the **Golden Rule applied to money.**
A Christian should not ask: What's the minimum honesty required so I don't get caught? The Christian should ask: What would love require of me? Jesus summarized the entire moral Law in one sentence: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Therefore: Don't do to another person what you would hate for them to do to you. If you were buying a car, would you want the seller to hide a defect? Then don't hide it when you're selling. If you were the customer, would you want the seller to manipulate you? Then don't manipulate your customer. If you were the employee, would you want your employer to withhold your rightful wages? Then don't withhold what belongs to your employee. This is the **Golden Rule applied to money.**
Before a business transaction, always ask: Can I thank God for this transaction? Can I tell the truth about every part of it? Am I taking advantage of this person's ignorance? Am I hiding anything important because revealing it would reduce my profit? Would I be comfortable if this transaction were completely exposed? Am I loving my neighbor, or merely extracting money from him? If Jesus stood visibly beside me, would I be ashamed of what I am doing? But Jesus does see.
The Bible exposes **the human heart**. The dishonest scale says: I want more than is rightfully mine. The false balance says: I will make the rules serve me. The greedy merchant says: Your loss is my gain. The covetous heart says: I am not satisfied with what God has given me. The righteous heart says: God has given me enough to obey Him. And this is where the Gospel comes in. The Law does not merely teach you how to become a better businessman. The Law reveals **sin in the heart**. The Law shows you that Sin is not merely something you occasionally do. The Law reveals the deeper problem: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Don't just try harder to be honest. You need a regenerated transformed heart from the Holy Spirit. You need Christ Himself, Repentance, and Remission and Forgiveness of Sins. You need the Holy Spirit to make you a lover of righteousness and mercy rather than a lover of greedy gain.
In a Nutshell: Do not cheat, do not deal falsely, do not lie, do not deceive/exploit the needy, do not take advantage of the weak, do not love money more than Souls, do not use your knowledge to harm someone who trusts you, do not have one standard for yourself and another for others, give people what you promised. Pay people what you owe them, measure fairly, price honestly, speak truthfully, keep your word, and remember God sees and never forgets.
The Bible exposes **the human heart**. The dishonest scale says: I want more than is rightfully mine. The false balance says: I will make the rules serve me. The greedy merchant says: Your loss is my gain. The covetous heart says: I am not satisfied with what God has given me. The righteous heart says: God has given me enough to obey Him. And this is where the Gospel comes in. The Law does not merely teach you how to become a better businessman. The Law reveals **sin in the heart**. The Law shows you that Sin is not merely something you occasionally do. The Law reveals the deeper problem: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Don't just try harder to be honest. You need a regenerated transformed heart from the Holy Spirit. You need Christ Himself, Repentance, and Remission and Forgiveness of Sins. You need the Holy Spirit to make you a lover of righteousness and mercy rather than a lover of greedy gain.
In a Nutshell: Do not cheat, do not deal falsely, do not lie, do not deceive/exploit the needy, do not take advantage of the weak, do not love money more than Souls, do not use your knowledge to harm someone who trusts you, do not have one standard for yourself and another for others, give people what you promised. Pay people what you owe them, measure fairly, price honestly, speak truthfully, keep your word, and remember God sees and never forgets.
Do not go beyond and defraud your brother in any matter, because the The Lord is the Avenger of all such. God always sees and knows and remembers. If *you* have ever been cheated, deceived, exploited, or defrauded, and the person who wronged you seemed to escape, God has not forgotten.*Surely I will never forget any of their works.* Lord Jesus, make my heart honest, loving, contented, and Christlike, that I would rather lose money than gain it by doing wrong to another person.
