Cheating...more common than you think

When cheating comes to mind, what does it make you think of?

School, most likely, being swindled, or some bad boyfriend/ girlfriend experiences are generally what will come to mind along with the word. Some definitions may include: gaining something by dishonesty, unfaithfulness, or just violating any set of rules.

Here’s another side to it­--what about people who simply lack patience? Impatience is one of the key elements that lead to cheating. Let me give you a few examples:

1. Relationships that reap the results of “taking it too far”. The idea that cheating isn’t cheating until after one of the people involved go to someone else is false! Cheating is cheating the second you went too far in your mind. You lusted after something you couldn’t have, this is cheating.
2. Debt because you “had to have” whatever you’d seen, so of course you bought it. I’ve heard credit card debt stories that made me cringe. Spending money you don't have is bad. Spending money you do not have and do not even need to spend, is worse.
3. Debt because you “had” to go to an expensive school. And many people hold tight to it, even if a cheaper school would have been as good if not better. Regardless of how high in esteem this school is held, is it really worth your full salary for 4 years past school?
4. Car payments up to your eyes because either you were not willing to wait until you could afford a car that expensive, or you would not accept a cheaper alternative because it might hurt your pride.

Any of these sound familiar? If so, I hope you learned. Cheating is a direct result of selfishness, and is something that has no place in the life of a believer. Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and should be exemplified by those who are imitating Christ. To “cheat” by grabbing at what you think you need/want shows that your soul is not satisfied in Him, it shows He is not Lord of your life. What is so important to understand is that the sin doesn’t begin in doing it. Even in our examples mentioned above, to even think about considering cheating in school, etc… is sin. It all begins in the heart, which, in turn, sends it straight to the mind. The second you entertain a thought of something you cannot/should not have, with the intent of acting on it, you are wrong. Just like a kid who sneaks a peek at the test of the kid next to him because he didn’t study. Just like the homeless guy who had so much and lost it all because he gambled it all away, thinking he could get more. You pay for it in the end, even if it seems like you got by.

Sobering thoughts for me, because so much of this goes on, if not in my own life than in someone’s close to me. There is no substitute for living in godly obedience, and working hard for what you have, even if it is not what you’d have liked. When God blesses you, it is with whatever He believes is right for you. Maybe it is a lesser version of whatever think you want. Maybe He blesses you with this amazing ability to work for it. In any case, let’s celebrate all He has given us, and not try to cheat through life. How could we ever be fulfilled that way? Thank God He knows what is best!