The Tenets By Which I Live

Long ago, when I was a child, my mother taught me that two of the worst things a person could do were to lie and to steal. At the time, and for many years thereafter, I thought perhaps she was exaggerating because of her personal disgust at these behaviors, or for the benefit of her impressionable child. I have since learned, however, that she was right. Most of the crimes committed by members of our species involve these two actions.

For example, murder is stealing another person's life, and adultery is stealing another person's spouse. Likewise, slander is stealing another person's reputation, while fraud is stealing another person's money. Some actions that are not actually crimes also fall into this category. Examples of these include laziness or tardiness, which involves the theft of another person's time. The most painful example of all is sin, which steals from our relationship with God.

Lying almost always results in the delivery of harm to another person. Lying about a behavior places the blame on someone else, and causes him or her to suffer punishment of some sort. Lying about one's own actions destroys trust and damages relationships and interpersonal communication. This harm is often irreparable, and the trust is often irretrievable.

I also learned that gaining another person's trust was a precious gift. Trust that has been given to us by another person, or even an animal, should never be taken lightly or abused. True friends are difficult to find, as well as irreplaceable. Friendship is one of the rarest and precious gifts that we encounter in life, and should be always carefully treasured and nurtured.

The greatest friendship, however, to which we can aspire, is a loving, joyful relationship with our Maker. God created us for the joint purposes of worshiping him and of being companions to Him throughout all of eternity. He designed us for this particular purpose, and to deny this is to deny the very reason for our existence. People search so desperately for the meaning of life, never realizing that it is always before each one of us, evident in every breath we take, or every beat of our heart.

I have learned to live my life with integrity and honesty. I try not to steal anything from anyone, and struggle never to lie. I treasure my friendships closely, and work to keep them dear. I try never to break a trust that is given to me. Most importantly, however, I try always to remain close to my Creator, and live my life as He desires.

Learn more about this author, Tamara Howell.
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