A cat caught a mouse. Not being especially hungry, she amused herself by tormenting the desperate little creature until it lay unconscious. Then the cat ate the mouse. This episode provided a few minutes of diversion and a midmorning snack for the cat, but it cost the mouse great suffering and the loss of the only life it had. By almost any standard, the cost-benefit ratio in the cat’s act was far out of balance.  

A criminal caught a victim and committed crimes against her, crimes that yielded him fleeting gratification but scarred the victim for life.   

A teacher felt some small justification for replying to a student’s question with sarcasm. She then proceeded to her next class and thought no more of the incident. But the student carried her hastily spoken words in a deeply wounded heart.  

A young man captured the heart of a young lady. After a short time of dating, he found someone he liked better. He carelessly discarded the first relationship. What he considered harmless fun cost the girl a broken heart.  

A mother took a job as a secretary even though her husband’s income amply supported the family. She forfeited many hours of quality time she could have spent with her daughter. The girl passed from childhood through the teen years and on to womanhood without learning important principles a wise mother might have taught her.   

When a cat exacts a disproportionate price from a mouse, she is merely doing what animals do.” But when a human makes choices with costs that outweigh the benefits, he is usually doing what God does not intend him to do. He who loves his neighbor as himself will see to it that others receive a fair benefit from their interactions with him.  

Jesus showed the way to go; the best and highest ratio.

From Paws on My Porch, by Gary Miller
© 2015 TGS International, PO Box 355, Berlin, Ohio 44610
Used by permission