One time I was visiting a friend in another city and I stayed in her home. My friend’s little daughter Ann had two cats which were interesting to watch.
One cat was black and was named Shadow. He was a gentle cat that was very nice to have around. The other cat was a large, white, angora cat named Snowball.
Now Snowball 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 Snowball was. But after being there for a while, they would find out what Snowball was really like. She was rather 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 with her paw and scratch you!
Once Ann tried to keep a puppy in the house too. The puppy and Shadow got along fine, but Snowball was so mean that the puppy was terrified! She would chase him and hiss at him. The poor little puppy always seemed to have scratches on his nose and face from her sharp claws. They finally had to find a new home for the puppy.
Snowball reminds me of some people who are so nice at times but mean and unpleasant at other times. You may know some boys and girls who are like that too. How nice it is to meet children who are always pleasant to other people.
If you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, then you can be pleasant all the time. This is because God’s Holy Spirit is living inside of you. God your Father would like you to 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 unpleasant as we were before we were saved. Being mean is sin, and we should confess to God what we have done and ask Him to help us to be pleasant. 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-12/28/2003