One day, years ago, I walked out of a department store carrying a dust mop I hadn’t paid for. I had slung it over my shoulder while shopping for other items. I had not set out to steal the thing, but when I returned to my car and realized I still carried it, I felt justified in keeping it. After all, someone should have noticed me leaving without paying. I actually felt good about getting something for free.
Later, my outlook on right and wrong changed when I became a Christian. I studied Scripture and attended church regularly, learning what Jesus expected of us. I eliminated a few choice words from my vocabulary—ones I’d often used when frustrated—and decided certain television shows and movies were not appropriate for me to watch. I also developed a conscience.
One August day, I forgot to pay for a case of soda I’d stuck under the grocery cart. I knew returning to pay for it was the right thing to do. Yet I rationalized that it was the clerk’s responsibility to have noticed it when I checked out. Besides, it was an honest mistake. The temperature was 95 degrees, and I was hot and tired. No one would know what I’d done. Well, no one except God. So, I trekked back across the parking lot to pay.
Paul proclaims that those who accept Christ are made new. As representatives of the one who made us, we’re supposed to emulate Him as much as possible. I was no longer the person I had been and could no longer behave like my former self.
Our human nature will continue tempting us to do wrong, but if we listen to God, He will guide us to do what’s right. Being a new creation in Christ is worth millions of times more than a case of my favorite soda.
Determine to let the new change the way you speak and act.
Diana Walters enjoyed a long career working with senior adults as a social worker, activity director, and volunteer coordinator. She has written devotionals for The Quiet Hour and Upper Room and has been published in six Chicken Soup for the Soul books. She writes a weekly column for baby boomers called “A Boomer’s Ruminations,” which can be accessed at chattanoogan.com.