Revenge

Today, at church, a 5 year old little girl started crying. An older boy was playing with her. She went in to give him a slap on the hand when she missed and hit the chair.

Funny thing about life: when a 5 year old girl cries in a room full of older kids and adults, everyone goes to her rescue. Of course, me, wanting to be her hero, goes to her and starts blowing on her hand. "The air that I breathe out of my mouth is medicine. You should feel better now!" She didn't stop crying. Then, I playfully said, "here, hit him back." I picked up her hand and acted like she hit him.

My church teacher said, "Don't teach her that!"

Stupid move. That's when it hit me. What am I teaching the kid!?
That revenge is the way to go? Why was that action such a natural instinct to me and why did I think that it would make her feel better? Aren't we supposed to leave revenge up to God?

I want to be a man of God. A man of God loves because God is love. I never realized that something so small could lead to big problems later on - especially to the children who are growing up. Not only should we learn to love in all circumstances, but we should also be careful of who we're influencing.

"Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good." - Romans 12:21