Counsels on Stewardship

Chapter 15—A Question of Honesty

A close, selfish spirit seems to prevent men from giving to God His own. The Lord made a special covenant with men, that if they would regularly set apart the portion designated for the advancement of Christ's kingdom, the Lord would bless them abundantly, so that there would not be room to receive His gifts. But if men withhold that which belongs to God, the Lord plainly declares, “Ye are cursed with a curse.” ... CS 77.1

Those who realize their dependence upon God, will feel that they must be honest with their fellow men, and, above all, they must be honest with God, from whom come all the blessings of life. The evasion of the positive commands of God concerning tithes and offerings, is registered in the books of heaven as robbery toward Him. CS 77.2

No man who is dishonest with God or with his fellow men can truly prosper. The most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, says, “Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God.” Through the prophet Micah, the Lord again expresses His abhorrence of dishonesty: “Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances? ... Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.”—The Review and Herald, December 17, 1889. CS 77.3