Staying Moral in Financial Crisis

Let's face it - times are hard right now for people across the United States and other countries right now. Money is hard to come by; thus food is hard to come by. 

Not too many years ago, people were dependent upon the local grocery stores for their food. It used to be that they grew everything themselves. This wasn't so hard to do because the head of the family did not go to work outside of the home each day. It didn't matter if you lived in town or out of town - they could grow their own gardens and even their own animals without intrusion of this city ordinance and that city ordinance. THEY DID NOT DEPEND UPON THE GOVERNMENT FOR NECESSITIES!

Now look at us today. The majority of Americans do not have enough food on hand to last them a couple of weeks should the grocery stores close for that long at a time. What compounds the problem is that a good chunk of us cannot afford to buy the groceries even if the stores ARE open! And here's where the real trouble comes in.

People are resorting to immoral means to get their money and their food (as well as non-necessities). For the second time in the past year my husband has received a letter telling him that his personal information has been stolen from a database. This time it is name, address, telephone number, credit card number and credit card expiration date.

You're saying, "I'm a Christian. I do not steal!" 

I am not accusing my readers of stealing or breaking any of the commandments, but I do think we need to pause to look at ourselves now and then. The Bible calls it examining ourselves to see if there is any presence of sin in our lives.

We are all tempted at one time or another - so was Christ. The difference between sinning and being tempted to sin sometimes gets blurred. Jesus didn't have trouble knowing where the temptation ended and where the sin began. He quoted God's word to Satan and cut it off immediately BEFORE the temptation had chance to get past the blur.

So, while these times are difficult, we must remember to quote the word of God before we act upon those temptations - temptations to out and out steal, to pocket the change when the cashier accidentally gives us too much, to lie in order to receive benefits, etc. Remember, God cares for His own.

I believe that when we stay honest and we work hard to gain an income and food God's way, we will be blessed and will have such a great testimony in the end. People will come to salvation because they have seen our faithfulness.