AUGUST 19, Luke 6:27-28

Do you have a younger sibling? Or younger siblings? A sibling is a brother or sister. Even if you don’t have, today’s reading is still applicable to you.

“Mum, Sean hit me!” shouted Sally. Sean is Sally’s little brother and he also has a bad temper. When he is angry, he will hit and kick. ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’ is the teaching of God’s Word and so mother will always punish Sean for his bad behaviour. Now, mum is going to punish Sean. But instead, Sally stops her mother and tells her not to punish her little brother. What is Sally up to? In her mind, she thinks that she knows how to teach Sean not to hit people anymore.

She holds Sean’s hand firmly and takes him into a bedroom. Thinking that his sister wants to lock him up, he resists and struggles but he is too young to resist. In the bedroom, she manages to pacify Sean and firmly told him, “Let us both kneel down by the bed.” The two children kneel down and Sally prays a simple prayer: (Fill in the blanks)

“Heavenly Father, __________ my little brother for hitting me. Give him a __________ heart so that he will not hit me again; and if he does hit me or push me, __________ me not to fight back. Help me to be __________ with him. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Retaliation is no use. The world will tell you that it is the right thing to do; it is to fight and claim your rights. Do you fight back? The Bible alone is our authority and we must use it to guide all our action and speech. Remember today’s Bible text. So don’t fight anyone. Like Sally, pray for the person or with the person. So, dear children, do you know what you should do next time when someone hits or kicks you?

Thought: ‘Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.’ (Luke 6:36)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to pray instead of retaliating against others who hurt me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.