The Trouble with Compromise

We all do it from time to time. We compromise what we know to be good and right. A little lie, a half truth here or there, an act of disobedience that is in private, you get the idea. What we are talking about is going against your conscience. You know that you are supposed to be one way and you behave another. Human beings often overlook the little compromises in our behaviors but they are not without consequence. No, there are tragedies that exist today because of small compromises in the past. Marriages fail long before adultery happens, they fail when the Biblical standard is compromised. Businesses fail because of small compromises in the past. Ministries struggle today because truth has been compromised in the past.

Compromise is dangerous because it removes us from the place of God's obvious blessing, and because it erodes our foundation, and it jeopardizes our trustworthiness and calls our character into account. There once was a man who was in the  place of temptation. Family members were playing to his greed and telling him that a small compromise would make him money...lots of money. "Pastor what do you think?..." he began to ask me. Holding up my hand I told him this truth. "Don't compromise your soul". Unfortunately for him, he didn't listen to me. The temptation proved to be too much. And today he pays the price for his trifling with sin.

Carpenters will know this truth. If you are putting in a chair rail or cabinets, every step must be checked to insure that it is "true" to the level. Otherwise when all the work is done  and the rails go around the room, they will not match up. Your failure to stay true will be seen by all. The small compromise will eventually become obvious!