“The Lord detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate weights.”

I have written many times before about the importance of accuracy, integrity, and honesty, etc. I have even used the verse above literally as we think about the work that we do when it comes to completing a transaction. I had someone pull a fast one on me last weekend in Austin at SxSw. It was raining hard on Friday night and there wasn’t much of an option to get across town other than to grab a taxi. Imagine trying to get a cab in NYC on Friday afternoon at 5pm when it is raining. That was the same difficulty we were having on this rainy Friday night in Austin, TX. When it comes to this dilemma, I have resolved to find a hotel and have the bellman get you the cab. We went to the W Hotel which was around the corner from the Austin City Limits Music Hall. The bellhop, a young guy, does his job and within a couple of minutes we had a cab waiting. All I had was $20 and I asked him to give me back $17. As I got in the cab and unfolded the wad of ones and fives he had stuffed in my hand I found $13, not $17. An honest mistake maybe? But I knew it wasn’t as I looked back out of the rain dripped window and he was looking right at me to see if I had caught him or not. Had I not been in the car with others and we were already moving, and it wasn’t so wet and cold outside and the cab was dry and warm, I would have stopped and gone back. So, that kid picked up a few extra bucks, but with it, he hurt the reputation of the “W” and his other bellhops, which neither I or the other people in my cab, will forget. The point is, it’s the little things that can really matter. It always is and always will be.

As believers and ones who represent our Lord in our everyday lives and work, we can’t afford to cheat the system. The stakes are way too high for us to cut the corners and be vulnerable to others feeling like we didn’t deal with them fairly. Let’s today take a hard look at what we are doing and working on to be sure that we are accurately weighting how important our integrity and character is for those around us. The tip of the scales in a way that disfavors another can be more negatively heavy than we know.

Reference: Proverbs 11:1 (New Living Testament)