Winners never cheat and cheaters never win.

It seems most teens don't believe that any more. Or, if they do, they think it applies to everyone else but them.

Cheaters all around

But then you probably know that. You've seen the cheating that goes on in school: the answers to test questions that get passed between classes, the Internet papers that are handed in by classmates with their name on them, the assignments others do for friends.

And doesn't it grind you when those people don't get caught? What's worse is when they end up with As when the people who do their own work get Bs and Cs. And what's even worse is when the cheaters brag about getting away with it.

Research Confirms It

You probably don't need researchers to prove to you that today's high school students are willing to forget the rules if they think that will get them ahead. But you know what's really strange? Those same teens think of themselves as moral and ethical. Be sure to check out the findings of some of those researchers.

Why Not Cheat?

It's tempting to say, "What's the use? Why be honest when the cheaters are the ones getting ahead?"

That's a great question. A deceptive question. And if we're not careful we can get caught in its trickery. You see, it's a question that argues that if something works, it is OK to do. It's a question along the lines of, "So what if I sell drugs? It works. It earns me money, lots of money."

But people who trust Jesus as their Savior are not concerned with doing what works. They are concerned with doing what honors Jesus.

Grace and Honesty

People who trust Jesus as their Savior have a much different reason for living than everyone else. Remember this verse? Jesus died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again (2 Corinthians 5:15).

Jesus died. On the cross. Punished with our hell. To forgive us. To give us life.

We live. No longer the way we think will get us ahead. But the way our Savior wants us to live. We live to thank him.

Take a minute to see how Docia forgot about that -- and the impact it had on more people that her.