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Christian Bible Lesson 108: Don’t Bully

Bible Verses

“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.” – Leviticus 19:18

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” – Romans 12:19-20

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” – Matthew 5:38-41

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

You will not benefit over time if you mistreat other people. Even if the same people mistreated you. Sometimes it is very difficult to understand that treating people who harmed you with respect is much more challenging than standing up to them and trying to match their abuse.

In the end, the person with the most respect is the one who has the strength to stand up to bullying and demonstrate self-control and show care for those who harmed them. Not all bullies will respect a righteous person, but righteous people will live with the knowledge that they did not contribute to abusing other people.

Christian Lesson For Today

When I started my own business, I was young, twenty-eight years old. I had experience working with other people when playing football in college and being a pilot in the Marine Corps, but I did not have significant experience with multiple people who had different motives. In business staff members have motives, customers have motives, people from other businesses have motives, and your friends and family members have motives. I learned quickly that you can be attacked from several directions if you are not careful.

The first challenge I faced was when my staff members questioned discounts and special considerations to the customers. At first, my reaction was to tell them that I owned the business and had the right to give any customer special consideration. I made sure everyone knew I was in charge.

Then one of my competitors began to spread rumors that the quality of my company’s service was not good. I immediately began to start rumors about that competitor. Of course, then the other company repeated the rumors.

Then a customer was rude to me on the phone. I responded to him with plenty of disrespectful comments of my own.

My new company was falling apart before it had a chance to grow. I thought about my situation and tried to determine what was causing the problems. My company offered good service at a fair price. I talked to a close friend about my situation. I discussed the details of the challenges with the staff, competitors, and customers.

My friend thought about the challenges for a while and then he told me that the common factor among all the challenges was that when I felt threatened, I made my own threats. It was the same situation with the staff members, competitors, and customers. If I was challenged by any of them, I fought back so I would not look weak.

I thought about what my friend told me. I did not think he was right at first, but after I thought about it, I realized he could be right. I decided to work hard to listen to criticism and have a positive response. When a staff member challenged me, I thanked them for their input. I did not always implement their suggestion, but I never attacked them. I used the same approach with competitors and customers. It did not help every time but I had way more friends and there were people ready to support me when I needed help.

Christian Lesson Summary

When you are attacked it is important to pause then think about the situation. Striking back at the other person instead of working to resolve the difference is not the answer to developing friends and improving your life.

Christian Bible Lesson 107: Faith And Works In Your Entire Life

Bible Verses

“So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” – James 2:17

Faith without works is dead because true faith transforms a life. It is also true that works without faith are dead. Jesus said that some would call Him “Lord, Lord,” but would not enter the kingdom of heaven” – Matthew 7:21-23

“Works do not justify us or make us righteous before God, nor are they the means to salvation. Rather, our deeds are the fruit that grows from one who is obedient to God’s commands and transformed by His grace. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” – James 2:26

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

The way we live demonstrates what we believe and illustrates if the faith we say we have is real. Faith without works is not real because true faith affects life. It is important that we demonstrate the fruit of good works.

True faith will lead to a transformed life, faith is defined by our actions. What we do reflects what we believe and whether our faith is true. True faith changes life, supported by works.

Christian Lesson For Today

Sarah with college professor

Sarah was a college student at the beginning of her second year. She attended a Christian Church weekly and believed she was a strong Christian. It was important to Sarah to do well in her classes because she planned to attend graduate school.

Sarah worked very hard in her classes to make sure she continued to advance toward her degree. She knew that the higher her ranking in school, the better her chances of being accepted to graduate school. She avoided spending time with her classmates because she wanted to finish the class ahead of as many other students as possible.

As Sarah worked harder and longer, she began to feel the stress of supporting a heavy burden. The harder she worked, the more stress she felt, and she did not have any sense of accomplishment.

Sarah began to feel discouraged. She did not understand how she could work so hard and not feel good about what she was doing. She talked to one of the Elders at her Church, Denise. Denise listened to Sarah explain the depression she was experiencing.

Denise told Sarah that Sharah went to Church weekly and applied the teachings to her home life, but she did not do the same with her school life. She was working hard at school to make herself get lots of credit and did not give any effort to helping any other students. If she did not apply her faith in the Church to her entire life, her faith would not have meaning. Denise told Sarah to treat other students just like she would treat people from the community in need. Denise told her to apply her faith to everyone, even those that competed against her.

Sarah thought about Denise’s suggestion and decided she was not applying her faith to her college work. Sarah started working with other students in study groups and helping the other students with some of the projects. The other students began to support Sarah as well.

Sarah may not have finished as high in her college class, but she felt so much better about her life. She understood that she must apply her faith to her entire life.

Christian Lesson Summary

Faith and Works are critical for you to succeed as a Christian. Both must be applied to all your life, not just at Church, or when it is convenient. Be consistent throughout your entire life.

Christian Bible Lesson 106: Testing of Faith versus Temptation

Bible Verses

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” – James 1:2-4

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” – James 1:13-15

“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” – I Corinthians 10:13

“Flee sexual immorality! ‘Every sin a person commits is outside of the body—but the immoral person sins against his own body.” – I Corinthians 6:18

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

The Bible makes a major distinction between “Testing of Faith” and “Temptation”. There are examples in the Bible of “Testing of Faith”. These are examples of people facing challenges in life that are difficult to face such as financial challenges, loss of a child, challenges with work, etc. Clearly, God does not give us challenges that are greater than we can handle. It is important that we are prepared to face life challenges and work through them with the faith that we will overcome them.

Temptation is different. Frequently, we are faced with opportunities that will give us immediate satisfaction, but we know are wrong. Taking advantage of other people, lying, stealing, hurting other people, sexual misconduct, are all examples of temptation. Temptation is different than “Test of Faith”. It is important to have the strength of charter to do what is right when faced with temptation.

Christian Bible Lesson for Today

David and Joan review sales receipts

David owns a business that sells tools and building equipment. He has been in business for over fifteen years supporting developers, carpenters, and some families in a small town. He provides a guarantee for his products that is defined on the sales receipt.

When the Pandemic began to affect a major portion of the people in the town where David lived, the market for tools and building equipment reduced dramatically. David faced substantial financial challenges. David started overcharging some of his customers and then he modified his cash register so he could process sales without showing the amount of the sale on his daily sales records for his taxes.

David’s wife Joan noticed the invoices where David overcharged a couple of clients. Then she noticed the daily sales report was not showing all the sales which would reduce the tax obligation. She confronted David. She said that they were being tested right now, but they needed to find an honest way to face their challenges.

David thought about it and decided his wife was right. David adjusted his tax reports to reflect the true sales and then he provided rebates to the customer he overcharged.

David was still faced with financial challenges. His son Bill overheard one of David’s conversations with his wife about the financial challenge. Bill suggested that he create a website and begin to sell the tools and supplies online.

The result was that after several months, David was able to stabilize his finances and still felt good about himself.

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

“Testing of Faith” are challenges we face that require us to address hardships and make sacrifices. God will not challenge us more than we can handle. Temptation is completely different. A temptation encourages us to take short cuts and do things we know are wrong. Sexual misconduct, stealing, hurting others for our own benefit are all examples of giving into temptation.

Christian Bible Lesson 105: Do Not Brag

Bible Verses

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 6:1

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:3-4

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

It is important that you not only do good deeds but also, that you act for the right reasons. Contributing to people in need to make yourself look good is not righteous. Making sure you benefit from helping other people by bragging in front of your friends is not the way to help people.

If you truly wish to help people because you care about people with needs, you do not need to take credit for your gifts. The satisfaction that comes from knowing you helped other people with needs should be enough reward.

Christian Bible Lesson for Today

Sally was a college student at a major university. She worked very hard to earn her way into college and she wanted to make sure she completed her degree with honors. It was important to her to be respected by the professors. Every time she contributed to discussions during class sessions, she made sure to announce her name and state how she was relevant.

Sally did not work in study groups or share homework with other students. Everything she presented to the class, she made sure everyone knew all the research was done by her.

Some of the other students in Sally’s class resented her for always taking credit for research. The situation got to the point where Sally was isolated. Before she left for college, Sally had close friends. Now, she was alone. As the research became more advanced, she missed spending sessions with friends working through the material.

When she started her second year, she had one class that was extremely challenging. She really needed to share her thoughts with other students to verify her thinking. She tried to join a couple of the study groups, but none of the other students wanted to study with her.

Sally called her boyfriend, Bill. She told Bill about the situation. She told him that she was afraid she would not complete her degree unless she could change her relationship with the other students.

Bill listened to Sally and then suggested that Sally change her behavior in class. He suggested that she acknowledge other students when she responded to the Professor’s questions. Bill told her not to be concerned about credit, to be concerned about helping the other students. Bill told her to try this approach for a few weeks and see if there is a major change.

Sally did not like the idea, but she realized that it was worth a try since her approach was not working. Sally worked hard to promote the other students and help them when she saw an opportunity. She quit taking credit for her ideas.

After a few weeks, some of the students began to include her in their study groups. She established new friendships. She was amazed at how much better it is to help other students, that to receive all the credit for ideas.

This experience changed her life. She applied the idea of helping other people and not bragging to all parts of her life and she was much happier. The concept of not bragging affected other areas of her life the same way it affected her college work.

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

Bragging about your accomplishments will not improve your life or the lives of other people around you. Be supportive of other people and share accomplishments. That approach will help those people around you as well as you.

Christian Bible Lesson 104: Obey Caesar

Bible Verses

Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” – Mark 12:17

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. – Romans 13:1

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. – Titus 3:1-2

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. – I Peter 2:13-14

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

Although the United States Government was created based on strong Christian beliefs, the freedom to support all citizens regardless of religious beliefs is fundamental within the constitution. Some of the laws are contrary to the teachings of Jesus. That was also true during the time Jesus lived when the Romans had laws that were not consistent with Christian teachings.

As Christians, we are to obey the laws of the government unless a specific law causes us to personally disobey a commandment. If we have the freedom of expression, we have the right to communicate our Christian Message to everyone. That is the law that is important to us. If a law is passed that allows an individual to take action that is against Christian teachings, as long as Christians are not required to take that action and have the right to communicate the consequences, we are able to live as Christians.

Christian Bible Lesson for Today

I wish to use one United States law that I understand is part of our country’s government, but I personally use my right to convince people to follow Christian Teachings. That law is the right of a woman to have an abortion.

Recently the right to an abortion was reduced dramatically, but for almost fifty years, a woman had the right in all fifty states to have an abortion within a specified time from conception. As a Christian, I do not wish for a woman to choose to have an abortion. However, the law has always given me the right to speak freely. I have the right to convince people not to pursue abortions. Being a Christian is a behavior that we choose, not one that the government requires. If we can choose not to have an abortion, all Christians have the right to live within their beliefs. It is our objective as Christians to spread the word about righteous living, not to have the government force people to live by our standards.

That is my belief. I appreciate any comments and other points of view.

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

Regardless of the laws of our government, as long as we have the right to express our Christian Values and are not forced to break Commandants from the Bible, we can continue to witness to other people and spread Christianity.

Christian Bible Lesson 103: Helping Others

Bible Verses

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” – Hebrews 6:10.

“ We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” – Romans 15:2-3

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:45 45

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:” – 1 Peter 4:10

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

Helping other people is not limited to contributing to charities, voting for assistance programs, or donating your time to support a specific group that assists people in need. You can also help family members, friends, and co-workers.

The important point is to help other people and when possible, make that help anonymous so those people you help do not feel obligated to compensate you in the future.

It is important that your objective is to help other people, not gain credit for yourself. You will feel a tremendous feeling inside when you experience the results of helping people without a personal motive on your part.

Christian Bible Lesson For Today

Bill worked as a salesperson for a software development company. He worked very hard. His goal was to become the vice president of sales within a year or two. He wanted to make sure he looked good to the management of the company, so he made sure he received credit for everything he did that contributed to closing a sale. He would also let management know when some of his co-salespeople made mistakes. His number one goal was to look better than the other salespeople.

Bill worked hard and closed lots of sales. He did not make friends with the other salespeople, but he made sure he got credit for all his contributions.

Then Bill was transferred to a different location that had more qualified salespeople. Bill did not know how to compete with the new group. He continued to work alone and did his best, but he was not producing the sales he expected.

Bill met with Greg, a friend of his from college. Bill let Greg know about the transfer and his lack of sales. It seems the harder Bill worked; the more difficult sales became. Greg knew Bill very well. Greg explained that Bill is in a much more competitive group now. He will not be able to work alone and continue to take credit for everything. He will need to learn how to work in a group and support other people. Greg told Bill to forget about credit and just try to help the entire group grow sales. Help everyone and do not take credit every time you help someone. After a while, the other workers will appreciate your effort and some of them will help you.

Bill thought about the point Greg made. Bill decided to try. Bill made sure he did not take credit for any help he gave other salespeople. After a couple of weeks, some of the salespeople began to respond to Bill. Soon Bill felt a great feeling when he helped others. Bill still worked hard and continued to improve, but now he had the support of the other salespeople. He realized that he did not have to take credit every time he helped someone. He also realized that he needed help for other people.

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

It is important that when you help other people, do it for the right reason. The satisfaction of knowing you contributed to another person is a strong feeling that will always strengthen you.

Christian Bible Lesson 102: Biblical Leadership

Bible Verses

“But among you, it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.” – Matthew 20:26

“If a king judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever.” – Proverbs 29:14

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” – Philippians 2:3

“A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.” –
Proverbs 29:11

“Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in the abundance of counselors there is victory.” – Proverbs 11:14

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

Leadership is not limited to companies, politics, or religious organizations. Leadership affects families, friends, and general groups. Regardless of how strong a leader is or how educated, or experienced, it is critical for the leader to serve people as well as guide them.

Being truthful with everyone even when it may cause pain initially is a vital part of Biblical leadership. Over a period, speaking the truth will benefit everyone.

A good leader will provide guidance that helps everyone do their job but remain humble instead of taking credit for success. A good leader will also control their reactions to challenges until taking the time to evaluate the entire situation.

Christian Bible Lesson For Today

Julie started a business five years ago. She called the business “Blue Ribbon Advertising”. The business provided guidance for content and ad placement through social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Julie started working by herself but gradually grew the company to twenty-two employees. Because she worked by herself initially, she developed her own process for establishing new clients and supporting them. As she added staff, she still controlled all the work and made sure everyone knew she was responsible for all the accomplishments.

During the first two years, Julie had over a 50% turnover in her staff. She was working more hours after hiring people than when she worked alone, but only completed 20% more business. She had one high-quality staff member named Randy who was productive and stayed working for her for more than two years.

Julie was concerned about her business. She was comfortable with Randy, so she asked him for his view regarding the management of the company. This was the first time she asked a staff member for their ideas.

Randy told her that if she wanted to have staff members work for a long period of time, she was going to have to support them in more ways than just their salary. He told her to give them credit for the appropriate successes, and to not immediately lash out at them for making mistakes. Take some time and communicate the benefits of doing things the proper way.

Julie thought about what Randy said. She did not agree with all his examples, but for the first time, she saw that it is important to consider the feelings of her staff. She worked with Randy to improve the relationship with the staff and within six months the staff turnover dropped significantly.

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

Just because a person knows the details of how an organization should operate, does not mean that the best approach to running the organization is to control every process and take credit for achievements. Supporting the people in the organization is fundamental for any good leader. The health of the organization should be the primary concern, not the status of the leader.

Christian Bible Lesson 101: Forgive others and you will be forgiven

Bible Verses

“Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new.” – 2 Corinthians 5-17

“ And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” – Mark 11:25-26

“Judge not and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:” Luke 6:37

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

It is important to forgive those who wronged you. We all make mistakes and do things that affect other people. Sometimes people are not aware of the pain they cause others until it is too late to change their behavior. Other times they deliberately hurt people.

Regardless of the situation, we must be tolerant of other people and forgive them when they harmed us. This does not mean that their actions are OK, it means that you are not going to act against them.

When we forgive other people for their actions against us, we can be forgiven for our sins. So, we can start again clean.

Christian Bible Lesson For Today

There are times when forgiving others for the harm they do to you helps you. For example, when you are driving on the freeway and a car cuts you off and almost hits your car. You can honk your horn, wave your arm, and draw attention to the event. Then your blood pressure may rise, and you will feel stressed. You are still in the same situation, except that you are now feeling anger for the driver of the other car.

The other option is that you can slow your car down slightly and give the other driver plenty of room. You may even move to a different lane after you are clear from the other driver. You can continue to focus on your driving and forgive the other driver. You do not know if he saw you when he cut you off, but either way, you do not allow the situation to stress you and cause other challenges.

That example is a simple situation where you do not know the other driver. When you are harmed by someone you know who acted deliberately, it is much more difficult to forgive them.

Example of a more complex situation. Susan is a software developer for a large company that develops business software. There are times when the business software does not work properly for a specific customer. The customer creates a support ticket that includes a description of the problem and any related information. George manages the support department for the company. George discussed a specific support ticket with Susan regarding posting transactions. Susan studied the details of the ticket and did some testing. She discovered the problem and created a “patch” to fix the problem.

George inserted the patch into the main code and the problem was solved. When the company president asked George about the ticket, George took credit for fixing the problem. During a staff meeting, the president of the company mentioned that George developed the patch that fixed the software problem. Susan was attending the staff meeting. Susan could have corrected the President by informing him that she wrote the code that fixed the software, or she could talk with George later and let him know that he should have given her credit for the patch, but that she forgives him and asked that he be more careful about communicating who did specific work in the future.

Susan chose the second approach and she let George know things were OK between them. Now, Susan does not have an enemy inside the company and George will be a good person to approach her when she needs help.

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

Forgiving other people for actions they took against you will not always have an overall happy ending. However, you will always know that you made the right decision. The person who wronged you may not become a friend, but you will always know you did the right thing.

Christian Bible Lesson 100: Fighting Isolation

Bible Verse

“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Isolation opens us up to spiritual attack. Sin, depression, selfishness, anger, etc.” – Hebrews 13:1&2

Christain Bible Lesson Overview

It is important to establish friendships with other people. As you develop friendships make an effort to support and comfort your friends. As stated in the Bible Verse above, some people have provided comfort for an angel without knowing it.

There will be times when you are there for your friends in times of need. It is also true that times will come when you need friends. Remaining in isolation does not add any value to your life.

Christian Bible Lesson For Today

Sarah worked very hard to prepare herself to become an accomplished woman. She did not spend significant time with friends, instead, she spent most of her time developing her skills. While in college she spent most of her free time studying. She wanted to be self-sufficient and accomplished. Sarah did not have any close friends in college. She avoided study groups and mainly spent time with people who could teach her about a specific subject.

She did meet one fellow student, Joan, who helped her with her major. Sarah noticed that she was more relaxed around Joan. After a few weeks, Sarah and Joan became friends. Sarah noticed that Joan had many friends. Some of Joan’s friends came to her for help with their school work, and other friends spent time with her eating a meal or going to an event like a movie. Sarah did not see why Joan spent so much time with her friends when she could learn more if she focused on learning. Sarah wondered why Joan did not see that studying was so much more important than spending time with friends. Spending time alone was critical to Sarah.

Then near the end of the college year, Joan felt very sick. After a couple of days, she saw a doctor. The doctor took some tests and determined that Joan had a form of cancer and would be hospitalized for a significant period of time.

As Joan stayed in the hospital, she had visits from her friends almost every day. Sarah felt strong feelings about what Joan was experiencing. Sarah was amazed at how strong Joan’s spirit was when her friends came to see her.

Sarah realized that regardless of how much time Joan spent studying and working toward a college degree, the degree would have no impact on how she felt while in the hospital. However, the support from her friends made a positive difference.

Sarah realized that there is much more to life than achieving a personal goal. Developing relationships with people allow you to support other people while they are supporting you.

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

Earning money, achieving status in life, or even reaching personal goals will not provide the support that comes from family and friends. It is important to make the effort to support other people. There may come a time when you need support.

Christian Bible Lesson 99: Power of your tongue

Bible Verses

“A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” – Proverbs 18:20 & 21

“Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking righteousness. You love all devouring words, you deceit tongue. God shall likewise destroy you forever” – Palms 52:2-5

“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” – James 3:6-8

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

The tongue has a lot of power. What you say is important, but also how you say it is important. As the Bible Verses above states, words have tremendous power. You can help people and promote good, and you can also promote evil through the words you speak and how you speak them.

It is important to develop discipline in your life and not speak words that hurt other people, even if those people have harmed you. You will feel a lot less stress and avoid challenging situations if you develop the discipline to control your tongue and not hurt other people even if other people tried to hurt you. When someone is evil toward you, that does mean you need to be evil toward them.

Christian Bible Lesson For Today

John was a law student at a major university. Becoming a good lawyer was very important to him. He worked hard to prepare for all his classes and he looked forward to legal debates. John would learn as much as he could about his fellow students prior to the debates in case he needed to use the information. When John noticed a fellow student making a mistake, he would remember the mistake and use that information at a key time in the debate. He was always trying to make his fellow students look bad so he would look good.

After a few months, the other students would avoid John as much as possible, but when they saw him make a mistake, they would attack him. John realized that he created an environment where he had to defend himself from many of the other students.

John talked with his best friend Bill about John’s challenges in debates. Bill told John that he created the situation himself. He needed to help the other students, not make them look bad. Bill pointed out that you need to do more than just be truthful, you need to be there for other people. Making people look bad is not a good thing even if you think it will help your grade on a specific debate.

John thought about what Bill told him. He saw the point Bill was making. John immediately quit targeting other students during the debates and talked with the other students about ideas that would help them.

Within a couple of months, the situation had completely changed for John. He stopped attacking other students and he help them when he could. The other students began to like John and then helped him as well.

When John finished law school, he felt prepared to move forward and work with other people.

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

How you use your tongue does not just mean whether you are truthful or not; it also controls the effect you have on other people. Even when someone mistreats you, that does not mean that you will help yourself if you attack that person. It takes a lot of strength to not respond to an attack, but the result is that you control your behavior, not allowing your enemy to control you.

Taking control of your tongue and promoting goodwill even when faced with people who try to hurt you, will help you and those around you. Some people will be evil regardless of what you do, but you do not have to let them make you evil.