You Shall Not Steal

10 Reasons Why We Should Not Steal by Sixth Graders

You can get arrested

You family will never forgive you

You can get banned from shops

You will get fined a lot of money

Your family will lose there dignity

You wife will divorce you

Your kids will lose hope in you

It will haunt you forever

It will kill you inside

You will be a disgrace to your family

Another article on why stealing is wrong, but this one was not a grade schooler.

You will be known as a thief

Think about your future

What would grandma say

Exodus 20:15 NASB95

“You shall not steal.

What is Stealing?

Oxford Dictionary defines stealing as:

The action or offense of taking another person’s property without permission or legal right and without intending to return it; theft.

We often think of money when it comes to steeling.

Steeling in the Old Testament covered a broad spectrum of items like:

Secret moving of a boundary (Deut. 19:14)

Using false measures or scales (Deut. 25:13-16) Prov 11:1

Proverbs 11:1 NASB95

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight.

selling goods of poor quality (Amos 8:4-6)

charging interest (Exod 22:25)

The requirements of the Law

If a person was caught steeling money he was to pay back double

Exodus 22:7 NASB95

“If a man gives his neighbor money or goods to keep for him and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, he shall pay double.

If you stole an Ox or Sheep and it was found then like the money the payback was double.

But If you killed an Ox or Sheep that is not yours or sell one that is not yours, the payback was even steeper

Exodus 22:1 NASB95

“If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.

Remember to story of Zaccheus in Luke 19?

He was a tax collector and he had been defrauding people. Look at his interaction with Jesus and Jesus’ response to him.

Luke 19:8–10 NASB95

Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

In a modern context we steal in all sorts of ways, some sneakier than others.

Security Frauds are costing hundreds of millions of dollars

Tax Fraud

Internet Fraud

Identity Theft

Plagiarism

Unlawful downloading

Shoplifting

Not paying for the right age of someone

etc.

How does this Commandment apply to you and I beyond the obvious?

Ephesians 4:28 NASB95

He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

The opposite of stealing is GIVING.

GIVE don’t steal

Psalm 24:1 NASB95

The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.

Psalms says everything we have is the Lord’s including ourselves.

With that in mind, here are three ways we should be giving, that if we are not we are actually stealing from God.

We steal when we do not give what is deserved

love Rom 13:8

money Phil 4:19

time

Tithe Mal 3:8-10

Malachi 3:8–10 NASB95

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

Two Responses we can have when dealing with our hearts of Thievery

Matthew 27:38 NASB95

At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.

Luke 23:39–43 NASB95

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”