Hurtful Words
HURTFUL WORDS
Read James 3:8-17.
“Am I doing this right, Grandma?”
Grandma examined the crocheted scarf Amanda handed her. “Looks good to me,” she said.
“What do I do next?” asked Amanda.
“Make the next row exactly like this one,” Grandma replied. “By next week when I go to stay with your aunt Denise and Darci, you should be able to follow the pattern by yourself.”
“We wish you could stay with us all the time, don’t we, Mittens?” Amanda brushed her bare toes over the fur of the cat at her feet. “Darci is so stuck up. In fact, Darci is nothing but a spoiled brat. She—”
“That’s enough, Amanda!” Grandma said sternly. “Remember, Darci is my granddaughter, and I love her as much as I love you.”
“But you don’t know what she did—” began Amanda.
“Dinner is ready!” Mom’s call from the kitchen interrupted Amanda.
After dinner, Amanda and Grandma returned to the family room. “I’m going to work on my—oh no! Look, Grandma!” Amanda pointed at the cat, who was playing with a mass of tangled thread. “Mittens unraveled all my hard work!”
Grandma smiled sympathetically. “It takes time and careful thought to crochet a scarf, but anyone—even a cat—can unravel one.”
“That’s for sure,” said Amanda, picking up the mess.
“It’s like that with everything,” Grandma continued. “It always takes more effort to build up than to tear down. It’s easy to be hurtful and find fault with people, but God wants us to help build people up.”
Amanda sighed. “I’ll try to do better, Grandma. Now, back to my scarf.”
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Do you say hurtful things about others? This would be a good day to start building people up rather than tearing them down.
TO MEMORIZE:
Encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
BUILD UP OTHERS.
From the book
