Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how the Lord God has positively influenced my overeating, this doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse. Debbie

COE Support Note:

If you REALLY want to read how Christ helped me throughout this weight loss and even when I was tempted, you should read some of the 100's of previous posts on https://christianovereaterssupport.blogspot.com/

Was I Using Christian Ethics???

Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Romans 12:17

 I was talking to a blogger friend, Annie Law at: http://weeklybiblepassages.blogspot.com/, through email recently. She was talking about posts she plans to write about what I call "Christian Ethics" in dealings with sales people. After reading her email, I thought of times where my Christian Ethics wavered in order to save some money. 

 One episode that came to mind was when I was writing the book: Bible Passages That Can Influence Your Life.  When I was writing about being honest, it made me take a deeper look into times I hadn't been as forthright as I should have been. I decided to look up the phone number of a business to apologize. That would be the Christian thing to do, right??? 

 I apologized and explained to the owner, I had deliberately looked at all the price tags of a particular item I was interested in, to see if there was one of them marked less than the others, and there was. I offered to send her the dollar I had saved by looking at the price tags for the lower priced item.  The owner hesitated, so I explained that I was trying to live by my Christian Ethics. I half expected her to say no big deal, it's only a dollar. Instead, I could tell in her voice that she was appalled that I would do such a thing, especially being a Christian. Her reaction made me realize that when I did this, I was pulling money out of their children's mouths, so to speak. That's money that the store owner depended on as income. I was being a terrible example of my faith, which saddens me. Fortunately, God forgives me even when I have a difficult time forgiving myself.
being  This episode popped back into my mind today. I hadn't really planned to post on the same topic as Annie is, but God has really put this on my heart. I was in the grocery store today and saw a big display of organic macaroni and cheese on sale 10 for $10.00. I bought four of them because this store lets you pay $1.00 an item even though you may not purchase 10 of them. When I went to the check-out counter, the macaroni and cheese was ringing up for $1.69 a box. 

 Confused, I asked the cashier about it. She said that she could get a sales person. This person said that there is a big display of these marked 10 for $10.00. The cashier asked the sales person to take the signs off the display, because the computer was ringing up $1.69 a box. The cashier said that she would give me the macaroni and cheese for $1.00 a box, because it was marked that way. I said that I didn't want to because I would be taking money away from the store. She said that I wouldn't be, because it was a store policy. 

 I told her that I preferred for her to take them off the bill, because I am trying to be more ethical.  I debated whether to explain that I was trying to be a better example of living by my Christian Ethics, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't trying to draw positive attention to myself for what I was doing. The cashier was somewhat bewildered, but handed me my bag with the other things I had purchased. Was I using my Christian Ethics??? I'm not sure, but it was my intent. It's funny how many times Satan sneaks up on me to undermine my faith, related to food one way or another.
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Romans 12:17

I emailed this post to my friend and this is her reply: "In today's society, there are still honest people, both Christian and non-Christian that want to do what is right. They care about ethics.  The difference with the Christian is that they are in a process of exchanging old attitudes for new ones (renewing your mind), aided by God's Word and the Holy Spirit (Ro.12:1,2). Another way to put it is, taking off the old and putting on the new, (Ephesians 4:22-25). You don't need to tell them why you want to be conscientious about this."

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