Filling A Space

Read Leviticus 19:17-18; Matthew 5:43-48

Josh walked straight from school to the building where his mom worked as a dental assistant. Josh arrived and plopped himself down on one of the chairs in the waiting room, letting his book bag slide to the floor beside him. He was glad school was out. What a day it had been! He gave his book bag an angry little kick. Mom noticed.

“What’s the trouble, Josh?” Mom asked as they started home.

“I don’t like Brian,” answered Josh. “In fact, after what he did at school today, I think I hate him!”

“Hold it!” exclaimed Mom. “Hate is not a word I like to hear. What happened?”

“Brian threw a huge wad of paper and hit Sadie on the back of her head. Since I sit right behind Sadie, she told Mrs. Cramer I did it. I said I didn’t do it, but Mrs. Cramer made me stand in the hall for the whole period. Brian should have admitted he did it, but he just let me stand there. After school he tried to apologize, like that would do any good. It was too late then!”

Mom looked thoughtful. “Sounds like you need a filling, Josh,” she said.

“A filling!” exclaimed Josh. “Who’s talking about teeth? Besides, I just had some fillings, and now my teeth are fine!”

Mom smiled. “When you had the cavities, what did the dentist do?” she asked.

“Well . . . he drilled out the decay and filled the space with a special material,” replied Josh. “But what about Brian?” Josh was anxious to get back to his problem.

“I was thinking of the problem with Brian,” said Mom. “Brian was wrong, but I think you need to drill the decay—which is hate—out of your heart and fill the space with forgiveness.”

“Drill out hate?” asked Josh. “How can I do that?”

“Well,” began Mom, “you need to use a much more powerful tool than a dentist’s drill. You need to use the tool called prayer. With God’s help, you can get rid of the hate and forgive Brian.

How about you?

Do you find it hard to forgive? It’s not easy, but with God’s help it can be done. When you ask God to give you a forgiving spirit, you’ll be a happier person, too.

Memorize:

“Pray for those who persecute you!” Matthew 5:44