Romans 13:7
Romans 13:7 “Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
Romans 14:23 “But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
I went to the gas station a few days ago--the kind where you can put cash in the machine by the pump without having to go all the way inside to pay. I was pretty sure I took a twenty and a ten out of my purse and stuck them in the machine. I thought I saw it say I put $30 in, but I was going through familiar motions and not watching closely. When I got back to the pump, it said I had $40 available.
That’s when I started to doubt myself. Maybe I really did put in two twenties. By the time I had filled up the tank--just over $30--I was no longer sure of anything, so I went in, collected my change, and drove home. Then I checked my purse, and my ten-dollar bill wasn’t there. I really should have paid them a little extra instead of collecting change, no matter what the receipt said. But there was still the tiniest bit of doubt.
The next time I went to the gas station, I took the receipt and $10, but I didn’t want to go in and look like an idiot by giving them money the receipt said I didn’t owe. I thought about giving the money to my church instead, but that felt as wrong as keeping it did. So I finally went inside, told the cashier what I believed had happened, gave him the receipt and money, and I left. I felt foolish. I felt good.
It’s easy to believe that our character reveals itself in how we handle the larger issues in life. But the Lord also looks at the way we handle the small things. He watches what we do when nobody will notice. He sees the way we let things slide. And He knows when we have doubts about the rightness of our actions. Our “little” sins condemn us just as surely as would the big sins we can’t imagine committing. And the Lord cares just as much about the little sins that separate us from Him.
May He help each one of us be on our guard against the doubts and temptations that might pull us into sin.
Brenda
Romans 14:23 “But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
I went to the gas station a few days ago--the kind where you can put cash in the machine by the pump without having to go all the way inside to pay. I was pretty sure I took a twenty and a ten out of my purse and stuck them in the machine. I thought I saw it say I put $30 in, but I was going through familiar motions and not watching closely. When I got back to the pump, it said I had $40 available.
That’s when I started to doubt myself. Maybe I really did put in two twenties. By the time I had filled up the tank--just over $30--I was no longer sure of anything, so I went in, collected my change, and drove home. Then I checked my purse, and my ten-dollar bill wasn’t there. I really should have paid them a little extra instead of collecting change, no matter what the receipt said. But there was still the tiniest bit of doubt.
The next time I went to the gas station, I took the receipt and $10, but I didn’t want to go in and look like an idiot by giving them money the receipt said I didn’t owe. I thought about giving the money to my church instead, but that felt as wrong as keeping it did. So I finally went inside, told the cashier what I believed had happened, gave him the receipt and money, and I left. I felt foolish. I felt good.
It’s easy to believe that our character reveals itself in how we handle the larger issues in life. But the Lord also looks at the way we handle the small things. He watches what we do when nobody will notice. He sees the way we let things slide. And He knows when we have doubts about the rightness of our actions. Our “little” sins condemn us just as surely as would the big sins we can’t imagine committing. And the Lord cares just as much about the little sins that separate us from Him.
May He help each one of us be on our guard against the doubts and temptations that might pull us into sin.
Brenda
posted by BreadBakers at 9:35 AM
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