Is Cheating Wrong?
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What does the Bible have to say about cheating?
There are many different kinds of cheating. A person can cheat on a test. One may use dishonest weights and measures and cheat someone out of a portion of goods. An athlete can cheat in a contest by taking drugs or other performance enhancers. Sometimes adultery is referred to as cheating, and we have all heard of someone who cheats on his taxes. The Bible certainly has something to say about cheating. We are not supposed to do it! Consider some of the following passages that related to these situations.
Leviticus 19:13 says: “‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.”
Leviticus 19:35-36 says: “You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”
2 Timothy 2:5 says: “And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”
Mark 10:19 says: “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
All of these statements testify that cheating is wrong. Cheating is a form of lying. The Bible forbids us from lying. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:25, “Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.” If we are cheating, then we are not telling the truth. We are telling someone that we are doing one thing, when we are actually doing another. If an athlete promised he would not do drugs, but he does, then he is cheating because he is lying. If you told someone you would take a test with just your own memory, and you don’t then you are cheating because you are lying. If the gas station were to just give you ¾ gallons of gas for the same price as a gallon, then they are cheating because they are lying about the amount you are getting. If a person commits adultery, he is cheating because he has broken his marriage vows. The person who cheats on his taxes is lying to the government about his financial situation.
Moreover, when we cheat, we are not being honest with other people, and we are supposed to be honest. Romans 12:17 says that we are to “have regard for good things in the sight of all men.” This means that our business is supposed to be open and above board. We are not supposed to act in a shady questionable way as Christians. 2 Corinthians 8:21 states, “providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.” Cheating is not honorable, and we shouldn’t do it.