One day, my daughter and I were sitting outside of a bank waiting on my wife, who was inside the bank, when an armored truck pulled up next to us. At the time, my daughter was probably four or five years old, so I thought I’d have a little fun with her.

I explained to my daughter what an armored truck was, and then said, “I think I’m going to go over there and bop one of those men on the head and take some of that money.” My daughter immediately told me that I shouldn’t do that, so I asked her, “Why not?” While this conversation occurred more than 25 years ago, I am still challenged by the profundity of my daughter’s response.  She said, “Daddy, you can’t take that money because that would make God sad.”

I was floored! I expected her to say something like, “Daddy, you can’t do that because you’ll get shot…get arrested…or go to jail,” but she cut through all those pragmatic, lesser reasons and offered the only one that really mattered, “Daddy, you can’t do that because that would make God sad.”

I hope that for as long as I live, I will never forget her response, and I will allow her answer to serve as a guide for all of my decisions. I hope the same for you, too.

by Steve Higginbotham