34 Cents
Thirty-four cents. That's what my character is worth.
Let me explain.
We dropped Eli off at school and headed to the store for a few items. My girl loves to go shopping with me and this was no exception. Most Monday mornings we have the place to ourselves so it's okay that she "runs free" through the aisles. She also enjoys helping me scan the items at the self scanning check-outs so we made our way to an empty line and scanned our items after we had shopped.
I don't know if I'm alone here, but these things literally stress me out. There was absolutely NO ONE waiting in line behind or around us but even so, I felt the pressure to hurry up and get those stupid plastic bags pulled a part - which seems nearly impossible. Add a few people in line behind you and those things are certainly glued shut, I'm convinced. Thanks to my little helper handing me items in the cart one by one, things were stacking up on the scanner and I was trying to make sure we scanned everything and didn't scan anything twice.
After what seemed like 30 minutes, I had finally managed to stuff our items into a few flimsy plastic bags and load them back into our shopping cart. I started to push us out and that's when I saw it.
One single packet of taco seasoning.
I knew I had rung one up and quickly checked my receipt. There it was - one generic packet of taco seasoning for thirty-four cents. One was already paid for in my bag. This second loose packet in my cart was not paid for.
There were a few workers around but they were sitting down on break. I tried to get someone's attention to hand over the unpaid packet of seasoning. It took some effort to find someone available and I explained the situation. The worker asked to see my receipt. "Are you sure you didn't pay for this?" she asked. She tried to give it to me when she saw it on my receipt. I quickly pulled out the paid-for packet and showed her there was only one purchased.
"I can't believe you didn't just walk out of here with this," she told me. "You deserve an award for being honest over thirty-four cents."
"No ma'am. No award. It's my character."
I hated that she was dumbfounded by my honesty.
Please don't mistake this post for being a pat on my back over a thirty-four cents. The fact remains that moral code and character hang in the balance when it should be the standard. No one would have known if I had slipped that packet into my bag. No one but me and God.
It's not about stealing or honesty. It's about character and our character is supposed to reflect that of Christ.
"So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, bug now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;" Philippians 2:12
I'm not afraid of God striking me down over thirty-four cents. I'd be more afraid of the repercussions necessary if it wouldn't have bothered me. When no one is looking, when no one sees, when the consequences seem minimal, will our character withstand the test?
When the price tag on my character is much greater than thirty-four cents, I want to be found faithful.
Let me explain.
We dropped Eli off at school and headed to the store for a few items. My girl loves to go shopping with me and this was no exception. Most Monday mornings we have the place to ourselves so it's okay that she "runs free" through the aisles. She also enjoys helping me scan the items at the self scanning check-outs so we made our way to an empty line and scanned our items after we had shopped.
I don't know if I'm alone here, but these things literally stress me out. There was absolutely NO ONE waiting in line behind or around us but even so, I felt the pressure to hurry up and get those stupid plastic bags pulled a part - which seems nearly impossible. Add a few people in line behind you and those things are certainly glued shut, I'm convinced. Thanks to my little helper handing me items in the cart one by one, things were stacking up on the scanner and I was trying to make sure we scanned everything and didn't scan anything twice.
After what seemed like 30 minutes, I had finally managed to stuff our items into a few flimsy plastic bags and load them back into our shopping cart. I started to push us out and that's when I saw it.
One single packet of taco seasoning.
I knew I had rung one up and quickly checked my receipt. There it was - one generic packet of taco seasoning for thirty-four cents. One was already paid for in my bag. This second loose packet in my cart was not paid for.
There were a few workers around but they were sitting down on break. I tried to get someone's attention to hand over the unpaid packet of seasoning. It took some effort to find someone available and I explained the situation. The worker asked to see my receipt. "Are you sure you didn't pay for this?" she asked. She tried to give it to me when she saw it on my receipt. I quickly pulled out the paid-for packet and showed her there was only one purchased.
"I can't believe you didn't just walk out of here with this," she told me. "You deserve an award for being honest over thirty-four cents."
"No ma'am. No award. It's my character."
I hated that she was dumbfounded by my honesty.
Please don't mistake this post for being a pat on my back over a thirty-four cents. The fact remains that moral code and character hang in the balance when it should be the standard. No one would have known if I had slipped that packet into my bag. No one but me and God.
It's not about stealing or honesty. It's about character and our character is supposed to reflect that of Christ.
"So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, bug now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;" Philippians 2:12
I'm not afraid of God striking me down over thirty-four cents. I'd be more afraid of the repercussions necessary if it wouldn't have bothered me. When no one is looking, when no one sees, when the consequences seem minimal, will our character withstand the test?
When the price tag on my character is much greater than thirty-four cents, I want to be found faithful.
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