With the new school year set to start in the next couple of weeks, kids will be faced with many situations related to peer pressure and honesty. Share this lesson with your children, so it may help them make the right choices when they are faced with these difficult and uncomfortable situations!
Rachel Gets Too Much Back – A Lesson about Honesty, Peer Pressure and Stealing
Coming out of the cafeteria line, Rachel realized the cashier had given her too much change. She had given the woman a ten dollar bill, and here was the ten, along with some other bills. She told her girlfriends when she sat down at the lunch table.
Lucy said, “Weren’t you just complaining this morning that your parents never give you spending money since your mom lost her job? Now you can go to the sale at the mall with us and at least get something.”
“I don’t know,” Rachel replied. Her mom had been a bank teller who came up short a few times, and though it was honest mistakes, it had cost her the job. The cashier was going to come up short.
Pete just laughed when she shared her anxiety. “This is a school, not a bank! The school gets all its money from the state. Nobody cares because it’s nobody’s actual money. Keeping it is what my dad would call a “˜victimless crime.'”
Scriptures to help Rachel decide what to do: Hebrews 4:13, Matthew 7:6, Matthew 19:29
Rachel should (rate the answers; the best answer would be #1; the least likely answer #4)
______ keep the money. As Pete implied, the cashier won’t suffer the fate of her mother, and nobody will suffer much loss, if any. If there’s no victim, it’s not a crime.
______ give the money back, and make sure her friends see it. What business does she have calling herself a Christian if she’s afraid to do the right thing in front of a crowd?
______ keep the money but donate a couple dollars to charity. It’s money for a good cause, and still, no one is being hurt.
______ believe that God sees all and he’ll reward her if she gives the money back. Whether she does so in front of her friends in private depends on her personality type and where she’s at with the Lord.
Reflections
The term “victimless crime” gets thrown around a lot. But our loving God is always the victim because he sees all, and because he feels the disappointment when we don’t trust him. God promises to reward us for following him (Matthew 19:29) and doing the right thing. The tricky issue for kids is that they want to know when and how. With more money than I gave back? Will it be tomorrow? In time for that sale? In heaven, which is a loooong way off? But deciding that we’d rather trust ten dollars rather than trusting the God who created the heavens and earth is nonsensical. Trust God. Certainly, to be bold publically provides an opportunity to be a leader. Other kids may see and do the right thing next time. But God’s promises work for shy people and those humble enough not to want any credit. Whatever your personality dictates, just believe in his desire to reward, and see what he might do for you.
Most Christian Response:
Rachel should (4th option is best): believe that God sees all and he’ll reward her if she gives the money back. Whether she does so in front of her friends in private depends on her personality type and where she’s at with the Lord.
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