Daily Devotional for April 11, 2017
Rick’s Rotten Apple
Rick stomped into the house and headed for the stairs, not even bothering to say hello to his family. “Hey there, Rick!” Dad called from his place at the counter. Rick mumbled something and then proceeded upstairs and slammed his bedroom door. The house shook.
Eva, his sister, entered shortly afterward. Mom finished chopping a potato and gave her a hug. “What’s wrong with Rick?” Mom asked.
Eva opened the fridge and dug out an apple. “Well, this kid named Carson Peters keeps bullying and teasing him,” she replied. “Especially on the walk home from school.”
Later that evening, Rick was asked to help make his mom’s famous homemade applesauce. As he chopped apples, he remembered some of the things Carson had said to him on the way home from school. Infuriated, Rick slammed the knife into the apple. To his surprise, it squished and splattered all over him and the counter.
“Oh dear. I suppose that was a rotten apple. I should be more careful when I pick out the bags at the market.” Mom said, wiping the gunk off of her son and the surrounding area. “Why did you slam the knife so hard?” she asked. “You could’ve hurt yourself.”
“Well, I—I was just thinking about what Carson Peters said to me earlier.” He explained all that had happened.
“I think the way you’re dealing with this is a bit like that rotten apple.” Mom said as she mashed up the good apples. “You’ve been holding all this inside and keeping it secret, and allowing angry, bitter feelings like that to stay in your heart can make you rot inside. Eventually, they would’ve overflowed—or in your case, exploded.”
Rick sprinkled some cinnamon into the apple mixture. “I guess I thought I could deal with it on my own.”
“Sometimes the only way to deal with something—or someone—is to ask for help,” said Mom. “God says to love our enemies, and in order to do that, you first need to let go of the bad feelings you have toward them. In this case, that means telling me or your father about it so we can help with the situation. Then you’ll be able to release those feelings and replace them with love instead.” – Taylor Carey
How about you?
Have you ever had to deal with someone being mean to you? God tells us in the Bible to love our enemies, but that’s hard to do if your heart is full of anger and bitterness. Don’t be afraid to ask for help with bullies and tell others how you’re feeling. Then ask God to help you let those bad feelings go so you can love that person instead.
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