Am I Guilty of Stealing?

The eighth word in the Ten Commandments is "You shall not steal." To steal something is to take something that does not belong to you. Very simple definition. The question Believers must ask themselves is, "Am I guilty of stealing?" The only way to answer this question is to look to the Scriptures to see if I am guilty. This is by no means an exhaustive study on the subject however, we are going to look at three individuals we might be stealing from and how we might be guilty.

The first individual we steal from unawares is the Lord. In Malachi 3:6-10 the Lord informed His people they were stealing tithes and offerings from Him. We make all kinds of excuses and give as many reasons for not tithing but the bottom line on this that if we are not tithing we are robing God. A New Testament passage concerning tithing is 2 Corinthians 8-9. One must determine if they are guilty by looking in their hearts concerning tithing.

Another way we steal from God is through usurping the honor and glory that is due to Him. Moses did this in Numbers 20:8-13 when he disobeyed the Lord's instructions for bringing water out of the rock for the people. Anytime we take credit for what God has done we are stealing His glory and honor.

A final way in which we steal from the Lord is not honoring Him on the Lord's Day. If we refuse to worship or only worship Him for a part of the day we are stealing the day from Him. Jesus states in John 4:23-24 that the Lord is seeking those who will worship Him. To do otherwise on the Lord's Day is to steal not only the day but
the honor due to Him because of the salvation He has so graciously given to us.

The second person we steal from is our neighbor. We steal from fellow Believers when we refuse to be loving, kind and encouraging to them, Ephesians 4:29. Whenever we gossip or slander we steal a good reputation that the Lord has established in them.

Another neighbor we steal from is our employer. Ephesians 6:5-9. When we are always late for work or take longer breaks and lunches than what we should we steal time. Or, maybe we do not give our best so we steal productivity from the company.

A final neighbor we steal from would be our families, 1 Timothy 5:8. Husbands do not provide for their families. This may be in the form of not loving them, giving them spiritual instruction and providing with the basic needs of life.

The third person we steal from is ourselves, Psalm 66:18. When a Believer chooses to live a life of disobedience he or she robes themselves of the spiritual blessings that are ours in Christ, Ephesians 1:3. We also rob ourselves of God's love, joy and peace because we are not reconciled to Him due to sin in our lives.

How may we avoid this sin of stealing? In 1 Timothy we are told, "Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment..." If I am walking close to the Lord and satisfied with what the Lord has provided then I will be less likely to steal. Believers must remained focused on the Lord and not our possessions and the possessions of our neighbors.

Stealing is more profound than we realize. The above examples are just a few ways in which we Believers may be guilty of stealing. Let each of us take some time to serach our hearts to see if indeed we are guilty of stealing.