Bad business

Yesterday, we had a guest speaker in our church, and he spoke on the topic of Worship (my favourite topic). Despite my having a lot of last-minute things to do concerning the LCD, I was still able to listen to much of the message, which I'm glad I did. One of the illustrations that the speaker told us was a true story about this businessman who was making a contract with a new customer. While signing the contract, he didn't even bother to read through most of the details, and missed the incorrect price quoted in the contract. The price was misprinted by someone in his company, and not influenced by the customer. When the customer saw the contract with the significantly lowered price, he was ecstatic, and was happy to do business with the man. But when the man received the first payment from the customer, he noticed the amount was far less than what he quoted, and called up the customer to confirm. The customer told him that that was the price in the contract that he signed. Upon re-checking the contract, he found the incorrent price written on it. Feeling sorry for the man, the customer offered to pay him a little extra, and the man said he would get back to them. That night, he went home and prayed, asking God for wisdom. The next day, the customer called and offered again to pay him a little more than the contract's price. But the man stopped him and said that it wasn't the customer's fault. He had failed to read the contract carefully, and that was the price that he signed, and he would abide by it. He then explained to the customer that he is a Christian, and as a Christian, whatever promise he made, he would keep. He refused to take the additional money, and accepted the original payment with the low price. The customer was so touched by what the man did that they decided to order all their materials from that man. I was taken aback by the man's reaction. I thought for sure he would have a plan to get his money, but he didn't. And in the end, he got the money and the respect of his customers. This made me think about my own self, and how I would've reacted in that situation. I think I would've done my best to blame the customer for the mistake, and fought with everyone for the extra money. In the end, I would just end up with the same amount, and bad feelings all around. And I would not have been a good example to other Christians, or show Christians in a good light. More on this tomorrow...