Does a little cheating really matter to God?

Leviticus 19:11“Do not steal. Do not deceive or cheat one another.”

Proverbs 11:1The Lord detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate weights.

Proverbs 22:28Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers set up by previous generations.

Ezekiel 45:9-10“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Quit robbing and cheating my people out of their land. Stop expelling them from their homes, says the Sovereign Lord. Use only honest weights and scales and honest measures, both dry and liquid.”

Malachi 3:5“I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Cheating violates God’s holy character and his standards of fairness and justice. God wants his people to be honest in all dealings, no matter how small. Cheating is the opposite of honesty—it always aims to deceive someone else by some means, such as using a scale wrongly calibrated (causing customers to pay more), secretly moving boundary stones (enlarging one’s property), or selfishly breaking marriage vows.

Mark 12:40“They shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be more severely punished.”

Leaders who claim faith but refuse to be faithful are hypocrites. They sin first by cheating and then by trying to cover it with pious acts. God hates both.

Luke 16:10“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”

Character is tested in the small choices you make. A little bit of cheating is cut out of the same piece of cloth as a lot of cheating. Just as a small drop of red dye colors a large glass of clear water, a small act of deception colors your character. God is clear that the more honest you are, the more opportunities he will give you to do good.

Romans 13:9-10The commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

Cheating is evidence that you do not love or respect the person you cheated, and you are thinking only of yourself.

Psalm 101:7I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house, and liars will not stay in my presence.

When you cheat, you are actually cheating yourself of what God has planned for you.