man, no one who truly loves his neighbor, will be guilty of such negligence. Indeed, the better way is to have no such debts, or as few as possible: "Pay as you go," is a good rule for the religious as for the moral man.
We thus perceive how extensive is the signification of this Commandment even in the literal or natural sense. But let us now turn to the consideration of its spiritual sense.
To steal, in the Spiritual sense, is to deprive another of his spiritual wealth, which is goodness and truth, the wealth of the soul. Any one, therefore, who deprives another of truth or goodness, either by teaching him what is false, or by leading him into an evil course of life, is guilty of spiritual theft; and such theft is as much greater an injury than natural theft, as spiritual riches are more valuable than natural riches.
A preacher, for instance, who, for selfish or worldly ends, teaches what he knows, or may know from the Word, to be not true, is guilty of spiritual theft; for he takes away from those whom he teaches, the truths which they already possess, or by introducing falsities shuts their minds against the light of truth flowing in from heaven. A public teacher, therefore, is bound to be very careful as to what he says, lest he infuse into the minds of his hearers some falsity or phantasy, some unwarrantable idea, derived from his own mind, and not from the Word of the Lord. He needs to make himself sure that all he utters is pure and genuine
