INTRODUCTION

As a sin of selfishness, stealing does not care for the well-being of those whom it victimizes. The thief cares for himself and only himself. He will steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
See All...). He will strip a man of his raiment, wound him, and leave him to die (Luke 10:30And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
See All...). He will break up homes and families. This is true of a man who steals material goods, people, animals, money, affection or any other thing that can be stolen. A thief is a thief. Selfishness causes him to take something that does not belong to him, and selfishness will deceive him into thinking he deserves those things at any cost. If someone must be hurt, die, or left desolate, so be it.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

• (For smaller children) A woman who stole another’s baby cared nothing for the baby or its mother. God gave Solomon wisdom to show her true heart (1 Kings 3:16-27 [16] Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. [17] And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. [18] And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. [19] And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. [20] And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. [21] And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. [22] And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. [23] Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. [24] And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. [25] And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. [26] Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. [27] Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
  See All...). Consider the cruelty in Proverbs 1:11-13 [11] If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: [12] Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: [13] We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
  See All.... Jesus became angry at thieves in the temple (Matthew 21:12-13 [12] And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, [13] And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
  See All...).
• Are you a thief? Do you try to justify the things that you steal? How many people have you hurt in order to take the things you have taken? Have you ever gone back to those people to try to fix the wounds you have created?
• Have you been hurt by a thief? What did you lose when someone stole from you? How hard was it to regain what was lost?

PRAYER NEEDS

• Ask the Lord to show you the hurt caused by thieves.
• Ask God to show you the selfishness of stealing.

HYMN

All the Way My Saviour Leads Me

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