Today, most of the world’s poor are victims of circumstances beyond their control​—perhaps lack of education, failing local economies, or political upheaval. Many toil from early in the morning to late at night and barely eke out a living. Opportunities to gain financially through dishonest means may thus seem attractive, even necessary. Why, some might reason that the Bible justifies an occasional moral lapse! After all, it does say: “People do not despise a thief just because he commits thievery to fill his soul when he is hungry.” And a wise man prayed: ‘May I not come to poverty and actually steal.’​—Proverbs 6:30; 30:8, 9.

But what of the wise man’s prayer? He asked that he might not come to poverty and “actually steal and assail the name of [his] God.” (Proverbs 30:9) Yes, dishonesty on the part of a person professing to serve Jehovah can bring reproach on God’s name and on the congregation of His people. The apostle Paul wrote: “You, the one preaching ‘Do not steal,’ do you steal?” If some professed Christians did steal, this could cause ‘the name of God to be blasphemed among the nations.’​—Romans 2:21, 24.