One time when I was visiting in a certain city, I stayed in the home of an old friend. My friend’s little daughter Ann had two cats which were interesting to watch.
One cat was a plain white cat named Dewey. He was a gentle cat that was very nice to have around. The other cat was a large angora cat which had the funny name of Mother Grundy.
Now, Mother Grundy was a pretty cat with long, silky hair. But her nature was not nice. In fact, she was the meanest cat that I have ever seen. When visitors would come to Ann’s home they would usually say something about what a beautiful cat she was. But after being there for a while, they would find out what Mother Grundy was really like. She was nasty and mean, and you never knew what she might do next. She could be lying quietly on your lap while you petted her, and then suddenly she might reach out her paw and scratch you!
Once Ann tried to keep a puppy in the house, too. The puppy and Dewey got along fine, but Mother Grundy was so mean that the puppy was terrified! She would chase him and hiss at him. The poor little puppy always seemed to have some scratches on his nose and face from her sharp claws. They finally had to get rid of the puppy.
Mother Grundy reminds me of some people who are so nice at times, but mean and nasty at other times. There are some boys and girls who are like that, too. How nice it is to meet children who are always friendly to other people.
If you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, then, you can be cheerful all the time. This is because God’s Holy Spirit is living inside of you. God your Father would have you do only good things. But sometimes we let that “old self” show and tell us what to do. Then we can be just as mean and nasty as we were before we were saved. This is sin, and we should confess to God what we have done and ask Him to help us. This is the way to please Him and live our life for Him.
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” Galatians 5:22,2322But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22‑23).
ML-02/07/1988