Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
Does God care about how you conduct your business affairs? Proverbs 11:1 tells us that he does.
The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him.
Dishonest scales represent cheating people; swindling people out of money that they deserve. And the Lord abhors any business practice like that, whether simple or sophisticated.
Another translation of Proverbs 11:1 says that a false balance is an abomination to the Lord. This is very strong language. The Holy Spirit wants us to know that God hates deceitfulness and deception of any kind when it comes to business transactions. It offends him personally when we misrepresent anything in a business transaction, when we fudge the numbers a bit to make a better impression, when we tip the scales in our favor. God sees it; he knows it; and he hates it!
If you’re in a position of selling to customers, you need to be totally honest about your product or service. Often sales people are seen as those who can “talk a good talk,” make things look good even if they’re not. But a Christ-follower should never be guilty of that kind of deceitfulness. That would be a dishonest scale.
I remember many years ago my mother bought some curtains, and when she got home she realized that the clerk had under-charged her. Well, she just couldn’t get in the car and get back to that store fast enough to pay the fair price for those curtains.
The clerk was astonished when mom returned to pay what she owed. Can you imagine how many people would ever do that? But my mom and dad were always scrupulously honest, and it never even occurred to her to do anything except go back and pay what she owed.
As Christians in the workplace, one of our distinctives should be our honesty in all dealings, whether buying or selling. When we refuse to take advantage or deceive or fudge the numbers, it gives us an opportunity to glorify our Father in heaven. God delights in us when we have that kind of honesty in our business transactions.
So, remember, as you go about your business dealings, God cares deeply about how honest you are. He abhors dishonest business deals, but he delights when we are careful to always be squeaky clean in our business transactions.