One day a hunter came across a bear in the woods. The bear said to the hunter, "I want a full stomach."
The hunter responded, "I want a fur coat."
"Let's compromise," suggested the bear—and promptly ate the man. As a result, they both got what they wanted. The bear went away with a full stomach and the man went away wrapped in fur.
This hunter learned the lesson of compromise: when having to choose between the lesser of two evils, choose neither.
In Deuteronomy 30:19 (NIV) the Lord says to His people, "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live."
You and I have a choice. We should never settle for just anything; we should always seek the best. The fact is that it is rarely the strong man who urges compromise. A compromise will always be more expensive than either of the alternatives.
The call of God is always a call to excellence—never a call to mediocrity. If anything is worth doing at all, it is worth doing well. If you can't do it with excellence, don't bother. Someone has said, "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"
When compromise is allowed in one area, it always leaks out and begins to affect other areas. It also allows lies, deceit, and error to creep into a life and take it over. I know people who have turned from the Lord completely. Their troubles all started because of compromises at work.
They began to give in on little things, which soon became bigger things. It wasn't long before compromise had begun to infiltrate their personal life, then their home life. Eventually it overtook and overwhelmed them.
In Proverbs 4:26,27, the writer warns us: "Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; remove thy foot from evil."
Don't allow compromise to creep in and destroy. You can't say, "Well, I'll compromise in this one area and everything else will be okay." Once it has a foothold, compromise grows and spreads.
Be a person of integrity. Guard your reputation, and the reputation of Jesus Christ and His Church. If the only way others can tell that you are a Christian is by the symbol of the fish on our business card, do us all a favor and leave it off. Take a stand today against compromise.
by John Mason.
Excerpt permission granted by Insight Publishing