Doing the Right Thing

TROWEL & SWORD

Resources - Children's Pages

July 2001

Kid's page

Doing the Right Thing

Anne Groenenboom

“Dad, if you know someone’s doing the wrong thing, what can you do about it?” Chris asked one evening as he and Amy were helping Dad with the washing up.

“That depends on who you’re talking about, Chris, and what they’re doing. Are you talking about someone from school?” Dad asked.

“It’s some of my friends from school. They’ve started a shoplifting gang and they’re having a competition to see who can nick the best thing each day. They’re even trying to get me involved, and they call me names when I won’t join in.” Chris answered. “I don’t want to dob on them, but I’m sure they’re going to get into big trouble one day and I’d hate to see that happen... and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Well, Chris, you’ll just have to keep telling them that you don’t like it and hope they’ll listen. Pray about it too, that the Lord will help you to speak to them.” Dad suggested. “I know you don’t want to dob on them, but you might have to, if things get out of hand.”

Chris nodded thoughtfully. “I didn’t think they’d do anything like this. They don’t usually get into trouble at school at all.”

Don’t forget that when people get together, they’ll sometimes do stupid things that they wouldn’t normally do, Chris. It might start out just as a joke, but things go further than they planned and then they’re too afraid to back out, because of what the others will say. Do you think that might be what’s happened?” Dad asked.

Chris nodded again. “Yes, a couple of them didn’t want to be in it, but they finally gave in, because the others put pressure on them,” he replied.

“Well, what you need to do is talk to them and try to change their minds. Try talking to them one at a time and you might have more success.” Dad advised.

The next day, Chris had soccer training after school, so he came home quite late. Mum noticed that something was wrong the moment he walked in the door, because he looked so miserable. She was still trying to find out what was wrong, when Dad arrived home from work. Chris was almost in tears and Amy and Carla listened intently as he told his parents what had happened.

“We were all walking home from soccer training together and the others were talking about what they were going to take next from the local shops. I told them I didn’t even want to hear what they were saying and I walked away... but just as I stepped over the gutter, I saw a wallet lying there, so I picked it up and looked inside to see if there was a name there... and all I could see was lots and lots of money, more money than I’ve ever seen.” Chris took a deep breath, then he gulped and continued, “Of course, the others saw me and they came racing up to see what I had. They wanted me to give them the wallet, but I wouldn’t, so they started punching me and calling me names and it was only when Mr Jackson came past in his car and told them to stop, that they did. Mr Jackson drove me to the police station with the wallet and then he brought me home.”

“Well, it sounds as if everything turned out all right, Chris, but I’m glad Mr Jackson was there to rescue you,” Mum commented, but Chris still looked worried.

“I know it turned out OK, but for a while I was tempted to keep all that money. I’m not sure if I took no notice of the other boys because I wanted to do the right thing or because I wanted it all for myself. I thought of all the things that I’d like to have, even though I knew it would be the wrong thing to do.” Chris confessed. “That makes me just as bad as them, doesn’t it?”

“Not really, Chris,” Dad replied. “All of us are tempted at some time and it depends on how we handle the temptation. Think about when Satan tried to tempt Jesus. Satan knew that Jesus was hungry because he’d been fasting for so long in the wilderness, so he tempted him to turn stones into bread. Do you remember how Jesus answered Satan?”
“I think he answered Satan from the Bible, didn’t he?” Chris said rather hesitantly.

“Yes, Satan tempted Jesus three times and each time Jesus answered with words from the Bible. Do you know what Satan did then?” Dad asked and Chris shook his head.

“Satan gave up trying to tempt Jesus because he knew it was no use and he went away,” Dad told Chris. “That’s what we have to do when we’re tempted to do something wrong.”

“But what if I don’t know the right words to say when I’m tempted?” Chris asked.

“That’s when you have to ask Jesus to help you,” Dad replied. “Do you know why you didn’t give in to the temptation to take all that money?” was Dad’s next question.

“I told myself that it was the wrong thing... and then I asked Jesus to help me!” Chris exclaimed, “and it was just then that Mr Jackson came along. Do you think God sent him to help me?” he asked excitedly.
“I’m sure he did, Chris. God sent Mr Jackson just at the time you needed him, didn’t he?”

Chris looked very thoughtful for a minute or two, then he commented, “Now I really know that God keeps his promises!”

Amy, who had been listening to every word, said to Chris, “Why don’t you talk to Tony Mullins, like Dad said last night? His sister’s in my class and she told me that Tony was feeling really miserable about what those boys are doing but he didn’t know how to get out of it. Maybe he’ll listen to you, if you talk to him all by himself.”

“Let’s all pray about what those boys are doing... and let’s pray for Tony especially,” Mum suggested and the family joined in prayer.

The next morning Chris went off to school hoping he’d have a chance to talk to Tony before school, only to have all his hopes dashed when some of the gang confronted him and told him they were going to tell the teacher that he’d stolen the wallet, unless he went along with their plans. For a moment he panicked and then he remembered that he had nothing to worry about, because he’d already given the wallet to the police. Before he had a chance to say anything, however, Tony Mullins spoke up and told the others to leave Chris alone. Then Tony told them that his parents already knew about the shoplifting, because he’d told them the night before. Chris stood open-mouthed with amazement at how quickly the family’s prayers had been answered.

Chris was even more amazed when Mr Evans, the principal, called him up to the front during assembly and told the whole school that Chris had handed a wallet containing thousands of dollars to the police. He told them how proud he was of Chris, especially as he’d had lots of complaints about some boys from the school being involved in shoplifting.

Later that day Chris found out that the wallet belonged to a man who had withdrawn the money from the bank to buy a computer for his crippled son and he was so glad that he hadn’t given in to the temptation to keep the money for himself. He was also in for a surprise when the man sent him $100 reward for his honesty in returning the wallet.

“I don’t really know if I deserve the reward, because I was tempted so much to take the money from the wallet,” he said to Mum and Dad later.

“But you didn’t take it Chris and you didn’t give in to the temptation to shoplift, even when those boys put pressure on you,” Mum reassured him.

You’re often going to meet up with temptation as you grow older, Chris, but you’ve learned an important lesson from all that has happened,” Dad remarked. “I’m very happy that you didn’t go along with those boys. It takes a lot of courage to stand up against a group, especially when they want you to do something wrong. Always remember that you don’t have to keep up with the group. At times like that, it’s important to be different.”

SOMETHING TO DO :

1. With your family, read and discuss Luke chapter 4 verses 1 to 13. Take notice of the way Jesus answered Satan each time Satan tried to tempt him into doing things his way.

2. Discuss with them the ways that children can be tempted, especially as they grow older and think of ways to avoid these temptations.

3. Remember that God will help you when you are tempted to do wrong and never forget that his love and forgiveness are there for you, even if you do wrong things.

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