THINK TOGETHER.
Have you ever felt like you hated someone?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 10:18. The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.
What should we do when we feel like we hate someone? Solomon is telling us two really foolish ways to deal with our dislike of someone. When we are really struggling to like another person, Solomon tells us two things we should NOT do.
The first thing to NOT do is to conceal it. If you are angry or feeling mad at someone you should talk about it. The Bible says that you should talk to the person who made you mad and let them know how they hurt you. If that doesn’t work, then you can get help from a grown-up like your parents or teacher.
The second thing to NOT do when you are angry at someone is to slander them. To slander is to talk bad about them in front of other people. The fool tries to make themselves feel better by making their enemy look worse.
What should we do instead of these two things? We should forgive and try to be friends with the person instead of hating them as an enemy. Of course, the other person might not want to be friends with you, and their might not be anything you can do about that. But when you have the love of Jesus inside of you, you can love anyone. Even someone mean. Even someone who has hurt you. How? By remembering that with Jesus you have nothing to lose by being kind to an enemy. They can’t take from you what God is giving to you in Jesus.
Because of Jesus no person can take away what is mine in him.
With Jesus we can forgive and try to be friends with everyone.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Can you think of someone you hate (struggle to like)? Have you been keeping your feelings inside? Have you been lying about them? Have you been talking bad about that person? How might you tell them about how hey hurt you?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, with you I don’t have to conceal my anger at others and I don’t have to let my anger urn into mean words or actions. With you I can choose to forgive and ry to be friends again. Please help me. Amen.
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