Deuteronomy 25:13-16
“In all your transactions you
must use accurate scales and honest measurements, so that you will have a
long, good life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. All who
cheat with unjust weights and measurements are detestable to the Lord
your God.”
The Living
Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All
rights reserved.
I’ve been watching a scrapbooking
tool for sale on eBay for the last few days. The opening bid price was
really reasonable…but the shipping cost seemed excessive. So I
contacted the seller and asked if it would be possible to use a flat
rate Priority Mail shipment and save at least $2 on the shipping costs.
The seller replied that this would save me $2…but it would cost
him/her that much in gas to take the package to the Post Office. My
response was polite…but I pointed out that the US Postal Service will
not only deliver Priority Mail shipping boxes directly to your doorstep,
the mail carrier will pick up packages when they are ready for
delivery. So the “gas money” excuse made no sense… and I decided to
seek this product elsewhere.
Bidding on this item will end soon,
but I have noticed that the seller has reduced the shipping cost – by
almost $2! So I am watching and thinking that I might jump back in at
the last minute to purchase. Now, I know you probably find this whole
exchange completely uninteresting…but here’s my point. One of the things
that Greg and I learned early in our business experience was that nothing
is better than good customer service and building a strong reputation
for its practice. And making excuses is never a good idea. We "do
business" much more often with companies who offer fair transactions and
liberal service policies with regard to returns and an eagerness to
make things right.
When you understand that accuracy, honesty
and fair treatment in business - and in life, generally - are
scriptural…you are on your way to understanding what it means to walk in
God’s ways and to serve others in a manner that pleases Him. I get
it…there are times when you are strapped to the max, and you really
would rather pocket that extra few dollars than pass the savings along
to someone else. There are days when you want to take the bigger piece
of pie and give the smaller portions to your family…hoping that they
will never know the difference.
There are times when we think
that nobody will notice if we “fudge” just a little. I am reminded of a
funny story about a woman who hurriedly made a cake for the church bake
sale, and it “fell” in the middle. In an effort to “safe face,” she
inserted a roll of toilet paper, iced the cake, and sent it to church.
The lady called her daughter and asked her to be the first on the scene
to purchase back the cake. When the daughter arrived, the cake had
sold! The cake baker was invited to dinner at the home of a very
“snooty” church member, and when dessert was served, the hostess came to
the table – with the “toilet paper” cake. The woman who baked it was
prepared to be humiliated, but another guest asked the hostess if the
cake was homemade, and she replied, “Why yes! I baked it myself!” The
punch line was…”God is good.”
While this is a humorous
illustration, the truth remains that our deceptions have a way of
backfiring – although I seriously doubt that God would be pleased with
EITHER church lady in this story! If nobody ever finds out what we
did…God will know. And really, this is all that you need to think
about. It should be all that matters.
What sort of “customer
service” or treatment do you offer to others…in business AND your daily
living? As if pleasing God were not enough, when our words and actions
glorify Him, He blesses us in ways we never expected. This should be
more than ample motivation to always “take the high road.” So how are
you doing these days?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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