Presented by Lauren Stibgen

How do you handle reporting results at work? Results can mean different things depending on the job you hold. Whether the results are directly related to the financial wellbeing of your company or not, everything you report on can impact the results of your company. From the number of customer interactions you make a day to balance of a cash drawer, integrity counts!

God wants us to work with integrity. He doesn’t want us to over or under report anything. The story that comes to mind when I think of finances and reporting results is of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. The early church in the book of Acts was built on the financial donations of its members. People sold their belongings to pool and share all their resources. Ananias and Sapphira seem to have been well off. They had a large plot of land they sold off to contribute.

After the sale Ananias came along and gave money to the disciples and stated it was everything he had from the sale of the land. Well, it wasn’t. He had held back a certain amount and not reported it. Ananias was struck dead. Even more alarming, Sapphira came along a few hours later with her share of the sale and affirmed that they had given all the money. You guessed it, she was struck dead too. It wasn’t that they didn’t give all the money to the church. It is the fact that they did not accurately report their gain to the disciples. While we don’t know for sure from God’s word, it is quite possible they could have given and been honest and still been alive to see the flourishing early church.

It may be tempting to report you made a few more sales calls than occurred, but this will ultimately show in the results. Anything you think will make you look better in the short run will ultimately come to light. And remember, our God is a God who sees everything—even the things you think are hidden. Keeping the integrity of your reporting is one way you can be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.