I’d just paid for a couple of bags of corn chips at the canteen at Mayo Correctional Institution, the prison where I was doing time for a first-degree robbery I had committed 18 years earlier.
On the way back to my dormitory, I noticed the canteen operator had given me three bags of chips, even though I’d only ordered and paid for two. It would have been easy to keep the additional bag; no one would have ever known. But I went back and returned it.
“Look, an honest crook,” one of the officers chortled—and he didn’t mean it as a compliment.
Although the bag of chips wasn’t expensive, I knew God wanted me to be honest. Honesty is always God’s policy.
The apostle Paul wrote, “Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world” (1 Peter 2:12 NLT).
A dishonest life led me to spend many years behind razor-wire fences. I received a long sentence in 1990 for stealing a pair of jeans. Stealing jeans had seemed like a little thing, but because of previous bad decisions, it turned into a charge of first-degree robbery.
I choose, however, not to be chained to the past. Instead, I take the advice of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and focus on the windshield and not on the rearview mirror of life. God made me a new man when I put my faith in His Son, Jesus, for salvation.
Listen to how the apostle Paul put it: “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT). These simple words describe God’s change in my life. I once saw myself through my sins and mistakes, but now I see myself as a child of God (Galatians 3:26).
No matter who we’ve been or what we’ve done in the past, we become someone new when we trust Jesus for our salvation and receive the forgiveness offered through His cross.
The blood of Jesus liberates us from sin and sin’s dominating power and restores us to a new relationship with God—where we’re free to no longer live for ourselves but for Him. His transforming love compels us to live with a new identity and purpose and to make choices that glorify Him. And those choices will point others to our Savior, the One who can make all people new.
Returning a bag of chips may seem like a minor deal, but integrity in the little things sets in motion more incredible things, just like Luke 16:10 says: “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities” (NLT).
How can God entrust us with more blessings if we aren’t faithful where we are? He can’t. Prove yourself faithful today by being a person of integrity. In doing so, you will position yourself for greater things, no matter where you are or what you’ve done. Live a life of integrity.
Roy A. Borges served 31 years in the Florida Department of Corrections, where he realized his need for a Savior. While incarcerated, Roy ministered to others through his writings, over 300 of which have been published. Roy’s book, 101 Short Stories from the Prison Cell, is available from amazon.com.
