The best policy

JM Kraemer
May 6
2 min read

They say that honesty is the best policy one can have. Yet it is still something that is often overlooked in how we live our lives.

Not long ago I was shopping in one of our major stores chains that is pretty common for Michigan. This was a pretty typical grocery run. Even splitting up the payment between two cards. Something that I’ve done more than a few times. In most cases no real issues develop. However on this trip something did seem off. Yet, at the moment, I felt the cashier had taken care of things and thus I was on my way. Sometimes I’m allowed to be wrong.

I have a habit of not checking the accounts till a day or two after a store run. Mainly because I’m often not back at the desk till the following day. Which means that I didn’t catch the issue with the payment till almost a full day later. One of the two payments didn’t properly go though. Which means the store was out a decent amount of money.

With the cost of food being as high as it has been as of late. It would be way to easy and tempting for me to chalk this up to an error with the store and the cashier. Letting them both be on the hook for “their mistake”. Yet that would not be the honest thing to do. I had the funds to cover the cost of that was owed. While the extra money in my pocket would be nice. It would not give my soul any peace.

Given the nature of my life. It took a little bit of extra time to get back to the store to resolve this matter. Had I decided not to follow though. This cashier could have easily gotten into major trouble. Either the amount owed taken out of their check. Or could have easily been fired. That is not something I can live with.

As followers of Christ we should always seek out the higher road to take. Not because of any outright reward we may gain in this life. Rather we do it because it is right and just. With the matter resolved and the store management happy. I can rest easy in knowing that I did the right thing.

That perhaps, is the best reward. -