A man went into a forest and asked the trees to provide him a handle for his ax. A bizarre request, you might think. So let’s listen to the rest of the story…

The trees consented to the request and gave the woodsman a young ash tree. No sooner had the man fitted a new handle to his ax from it, than he began to use it and quickly felled with his strokes the noblest giants of the forest.

One after another, the great trees were felled with the ax – fitted to the handle of the young ash tree. An old oak, lamenting too late the destruction of his companions, said to a neighboring cedar, “The first step has lost us all. If we had not sacrificed the right of the young ash tree, we might have retained our own privileges and have stood for ages.”

Hmmm. The wisdom of that tree must not be lost on you and me. If we compromise in those areas of our lives where compromise is neither wise nor moral, chances are we’ll be like the handle of young ash.

So listen to the wisdom of the oak…Never compromise your principles, and certainly never sacrifice others to win a momentary victory.

Click here to listen to this devotional.