June 17
Not to Defraud
1 Thessalonians 4:5-6

 

  1. Not [to be used] in the passion of lust, like the heathen who are ignorant of the true God and have no knowledge of His will,
  2. That no man transgress, and overreach his brother and defraud him in this matter or defraud his brother in business. For the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we have already warned you solemnly and told you plainly. (Amplified Bible)

 

When he says ‘in this matter’ he’s referring to what he just told them about abstaining from sexual sins.  But in this or any matter we should not be trying to defraud or cheat our brothers / sisters (or anyone for that matter).  In every area of our lives the Lord wants us to live according to His Word.

No matter what the circumstances, we are to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus and function with Him as our Lord.  There are not instances when we lay aside our Christianity—our identification—with Him for any reason.

We are to live according to His Word whether things are going well or not.  There are not excuses we can make for defrauding anyone.  There are no justifications for cheating or deceiving.  The Lord will take care of everything and we need to trust in Him.

 

Confession:

I’ll not defraud or cheat anyone for any reason.  I’ll live my life according to the Word of God and Lordship of Jesus Christ.  My life will bring life and truth to people not death and deception.

 

Obedience is a tree of life!