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The Golden Rule to Govern Business Dealings, June 7
What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8
, NKJV.
The laws of the nations bear marks of the infirmities and passions of the unre-
newed heart; but God’s laws bear the stamp of the divine, and if they are obeyed,
they will lead to a tender regard for the rights and privileges of others.... His watch-
ful care is over all the interests of His children, and He declares He will undertake
the cause of the afflicted and the oppressed. If they cry unto Him, He says, “I will
hear; for I am gracious.”
A man of means, if he possesses strict integrity, and loves and fears God, may be
a benefactor to the poor. He can help them, and take no more interest [on the money
he lends] than can be mercifully exacted. He thus meets with no loss himself, and
his unfortunate neighbor is greatly benefited, for he is saved from the hands of the
dishonest schemer. The principles of the golden rule are not to be lost sight of for a
moment in any business transaction.... God never designed that one person should
prey upon another. He jealously guards the rights of His children, and in the books
of Heaven great loss is set down on the side of the unjust dealer.
In the Holy Scriptures fearful denunciations are pronounced against the sin
of covetousness. “No ... covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” The psalmist says, “The wicked boasteth
of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.” Paul
ranks covetous people with idolaters, adulterers, thieves, drunkards, revilers, and
extortioners, none of whom shall inherit the kingdom of God. These are the fruits
of a corrupt tree, and God is dishonored by them. We are not to make the customs
and maxims of the world our criterion. Reforms must take place; all injustice must
be put away.
We are commanded to “search the scriptures.” The whole Word of God is our
rule of action. We are to carry out its principles in our daily lives; there is no
surer mark of Christianity than this. We must carry out the great principles of
justice and mercy in our relations with one another. We must be daily cultivating
those qualities that will fit us for the society of heaven. If we do these things, God
becomes our surety, and promises to bless all that we undertake; and we “shall
never be moved.”—
The Signs of the Times, February 7, 1884
.
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