Craig Clouston

 Clear Conscience

July 21

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.

1 Peter 3:14

They called him a whistle blower. As they agency’s head accountant, Wes had called for an investigation into alleged improprieties. Everyone felt he had betrayed the agency. They didn’t know what Wes knew. He had discovered that three of the top executives had embezzled 2.3 million dollars in company retirement funds.

He’d figured it out while doing an in-depth cross-check of the last two years’ books. Someone had cooked the books to show bogus market exchanges after the year-to-date expenditures had been signed off on.

Someone had slanted the books to make it appear the firm had spent millions on a new office building in the downtown district and that each employee was a contributing shareholder.

He’d uncovered a trail where thousands of dollars at a time had been siphoned from the money market investments without anyone’s knowledge. Wes ran across the discrepancies by checking deposit dates against phony real estate entries.

When the two-month external investigation proved Wes had been right, the whistleblower label was replaced with pats on the back and a huge debt of thanks. Wes had done what was right. In his mind, he couldn’t have done otherwise.

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Sometimes doing the right thing requires taking some abuse. But that should never be the deciding factor in how we proceed. To look the other way when things are not as they should be is to forfeit character, honesty, and integrity.

Wes could have chosen to ignore his discovery. He could have simply resigned his position and gone to another agency. He was aware that by implicating those in authority he was taking a chance on having his character dragged through the mud. After all, he’d only been with the company a little over a year, and it was his word against theirs. For a while, it had been a very lonely stand.

It is better to suffer a while for what is right than live with a troubled heart. There is no substitute for a clear conscience.

Prayer

“I want to be a person of great integrity, Lord. Help me to put what’s right ahead of my comfort no matter the circumstances. In Jesus’ Name, amen. “