Many years ago, I owned
a variety gift shop. One of its categories was home décor. One day, Lady R came
to the shop. I knew Lady R from my parents' church. I knew she was a church
member along with her husband, a deacon, for many years.
While Lady R was in the
store, she dropped a home décor item and broke it. I was not watching her, but
when I heard the thud on the carpet, I knew she’d broken something. When I
turned to look toward her, her back was to me, and it was obvious that she was
trying to hide something. She continued shopping, made her purchase, and left.
I went to the area where
I heard the thud and found the item that she had broken. She had put it back
together and placed it on the shelf like nothing was wrong.
There’s a whole lot
wrong here, but most importantly, she set it up for someone else to take the
fall when it fell apart in their hands.
The funny thing is, I
would not have had her pay for it. I never made anyone pay for an accident. She
did ruin her reputation, however, and it was quite a payment out of her status
bank.
Lady V was someone I knew from a
church I went to years ago. Lady V had set her sights on some property. It was
owned by an elderly couple who needed to sell out to afford the move to a
nursing home.
Lady V knew the situation and
held out on making an offer on purpose. She knew that the elderly couple was on
a deadline to sell. She waited until the last minute to make an offer and made
the offer way below what they were asking. They had no choice; they were out of
time.
Lady V then went to church and
bragged to her friends about this great deal she had gotten on some land.
There’s a whole lot wrong here as
well. The elderly couple needed just below the asking price to break even and
get the care they needed. The low-ball sale put them in hardship. Lady V could
have paid slightly below the asking price but instead chose to gouge and then
bragged about it.
Not a good deal at all. Again,
her status account was depleted as well. Lady V got that land, but many years
later was forced to sell it herself.
The Bible tells us to be honest in our dealings. It also
tells us not to brag about our good deals.
"It’s no
good, it’s no good!" says the buyer—then goes off and boasts about the
purchase. Proverbs 20:14
What's depicted here is a common
tactic in business negotiations: to downplay the value of something one wishes
to buy.
This practice can become blatantly
dishonest. Some buyers or sellers overtly lie about a potential transaction.
They go beyond looking to make a fair-yet-profitable deal. Deception and lies
in business are forms of theft; it's cheating.
Here are some other verses for understanding.
Proverbs 22:16 | “Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich,
will only come to poverty.”
Proverbs 22:1 | “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than
silver or gold”.
Leviticus 19:11 | “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one
another.”
Luke 6:31 | “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.”
Proverbs 11:3 | “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the
treacherous destroys them.”
Hebrews 13:18 | |”‘Pray
for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act
honorably in all things.”
Proverbs 28:6 | “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked
in his ways.”
Proverbs 16:18 | “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Philippians
2:3 | “Do nothing
out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above
yourselves.”
James 4:16 | “But as it is, you boast in your
arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”
Debra Lee | Biz & Life
Coach | Author | Keynote Speaker | Blogger
Books: “It Is What It Is…But It Wasn’t A Tragedy” | “Making
Wise Choices…the most important life skill to master”
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