We cannot ignore the cracks in our character, lest they spread into something that will cost us dearly later.
Lori and I were driving in her van when I noticed a chip in the windshield. She saw me looking at it and said, “We need to get that fixed before it gets any bigger.”
If you’ve ever had a crack in your windshield and didn’t get it fixed promptly, you know what she’s talking about; a tiny crack can spread quickly, ruining your windshield and leaving you with a big bill.
Character is much like a windshield, isn’t it? Our character clearly reveals us to the people we encounter. Like a windshield, character also shows us the direction our lives are headed.
We cannot ignore the cracks in our character, lest they spread into something that will cost us dearly later.
Lori and I are business owners. It can be tempting to try to reduce our taxes by fudging the vehicle mileage we report, or to falsely write off a meal as a business deduction.
If we are capable of these rather minor offenses, what else are we capable of? (By the way, I am sure the IRS would take issue with the characterization of those offenses as “minor.”)
Have you ever you clocked out early at work and justified it by telling your conscience that everybody else does it, too? How many of us use a handicapped parking spot but tell ourselves that we’re in a hurry and besides we’ll only be in the store for a minute? What about when our employer pays for us to travel to a seminar and we skip half of the sessions to play golf or go shopping?
The little things we allow to chip away at our character may not, in and of themselves, be ruinous. But, if we don’t take steps to identify and eliminate them from our actions, they will eventually destroy our character.
Let’s remember that the next time the cashier gives us back too much change.
Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.
(Proverbs 10:9 NIV)
Share this:
Photo: courtesy of Vcx
