the eight commandment

You shall not steal.  The eight commandment from the short list.  As I consider this commandment, I think of the many situations that people think it is OK,  for instance if they cheat on their taxes. Its just the government. Once, I bought a 500 dollar car, the seller offered to write me a bill of sale for 100 dollars to save me money on taxes when I got the car registered in my name. I opted not to, and said  just write it for the correct amount.  Or recently when building a house the employees were talking about adding a tool to the material they were ordering, not realizing it was me that was paying. They thought it was their boss and they figured it was a way to get their boss to buy a tool for them. The boss did pay for it when I objected to seeing it on my bill. It may seem like a small thing, but it is stealing when you take something even in that way,  the payer did not agree to. If it is a large company or a government office, an individual it is still stealing. God commands us not to steal. The thing here to think about is the principle is the same, if you steal a quarter or a million dollars, the sin is the same.  Or the time when I worked for a large aircraft manufacturer, one employee that belonged to a car club was making trophies for his car club using company materials, company tools and on company time. He felt it was OK because they were a large company and could afford it.  When he got behind on his job, I was sent to take it over and I discovered what he was doing and reported it to my manager. I was  in trouble with the whole crew because they considered me a snitch and that was worse in their eyes then stealing.  I ended up having to go to another shift for my safety. Other employees were so mad at me, and didn't feel they could trust me. They felt they could trust the thief but not a man that reported the theft.  That was a difficult time for me and perhaps I could have handled it better on my end, That man stole material, time and wages and his work he was suppose to be doing behind schedule. God does not want us to steal, even little things. not from the government, or a large company, our neighbor or any one for that matter. God bless, LVZ.