Don’t Tell
DON’T TELL
Read Proverbs 15:1-9.
“Mom, guess what? Roberto’s got chicken pox!” called Luke as he ran into the house. Luke had been the first one at church to get chicken pox, and now others were getting it.
Mom held up her hand and continued her phone conversation. As Luke listened, he figured out that his Sunday school teacher, Mr. Taylor, was moving to Texas.
“Don’t tell anyone,” Mom said when she hung up. “Mr. Taylor’s boss is on vacation, so Mr. Taylor hasn’t told him yet.”
Luke didn’t tell anyone about the Taylors—until Sunday. Then he told Eric that their teacher was moving. “But don’t tell anyone,” he added. And Eric didn’t—until he told his sister, who told her friend Karen.
By the end of that week several more children had chicken pox—and several more people knew about the Taylors’ move. Karen told her parents. They didn’t know it was a secret, so they told another family. After a woman told the Taylors she would miss them when they moved, Mrs. Taylor told Luke’s mother, “The news is out.”
“Luke,” said Mom, “did you tell anyone about the Taylors?”
“Well, just Eric. But I told him not to tell.”
“Mr. Taylor wanted to tell his boss before someone else does, but now the news is all over town,” said Mom. “News spreads fast.”
“Like the chicken pox?” asked Luke.
“Yes,” agreed Mother. “Once you exposed your friends to the chicken pox, there was nothing you could do to stop it. And when you tell a ‘secret,’ the story is sure to spread.”
Luke went to the Taylors to apologize. He told the Lord he was sorry too.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Are you a good friend? A good friend knows how to keep a secret. That means not telling even one person. When you’re taken into someone’s confidence, talk about it only to the Lord.
TO MEMORIZE:
The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness.
Proverbs 15:2
CONTROL YOUR TONGUE.
From the book
