JULY 9, Psalm 51:2-3 

“I didn’t mean to scratch your skateboard, Karen! You don’t have to get so mad!” Jared defended himself. “I told you to leave it alone!” sputtered Karen. “Well, a skateboard is meant to jump and ride rails and stuff ,” muttered Jared. “All you do is coast down the street on it. Why don’t you try out this ramp I built?”

Just then, their father came. “Look, Dad!” exclaimed Karen. “Jared got all these scratches on my new skateboard. I told him not to take it on that ramp, but he wouldn’t listen. He messed it all up!”

“I couldn’t help it, Karen – I didn’t fall on purpose,” said Jared quickly. “Besides, look what happened to my shirt when I fell off the board. There are grass stains all over it!” “Well,Karen,” said Dad as he examined the skateboard, “ the other day, you showed me a bunch of decals you’ve been collecting. If you use them to cover most of those scratches, the board will look great! I’ll help you with it, okay?” Karen looked relieved. Then Dad turned to Jared. “Do you want some white paint to put over those stains on your shirt?”

“Paint!” exclaimed Jared. “Of course not! These stains will have to be washed out, not covered up.”

“I agree,” said Dad, “but do you know that you shouldn’t cover up the wrong things you have done? You shouldn’t have scratched Karen’s skateboard, and we’re making the best of it with the sticker idea. But instead of accepting your responsibility and apologising, you made excuses. You even made yourself a victim by complaining about your shirt. You were trying to cover up the wrong thing you did, weren’t you?”

“Well, I... I guess so,” admitted Jared. “I... I’m sorry, Karen.”

Thought: When you’ve done something wrong, do you accept responsibility?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please teach me never to look for someone else to blame when I do wrong. Give me the courage to obey the Holy Spirit’s guidance to confess my sins and to admit my mistakes. That’s far better than making excuses or blaming others for what I’ve done. This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.