Do You Tattle on Yourself?
Tell me about your new teacher," Marie's mother greeted the girls as they bounded through the door after their first day of school.
"Oh, she's beautiful!" gasped Marie.
"I hate her!" pouted Eunice, Marie's playmate.
She wasn't probably so beautiful as Marie thought she was. But she wasn't hateful, either, or a person anyone would just naturally despise. Each girl gave a miles-apart opinion about the same person.
Now, from these two girls' description of their new teacher it would be almost impossible to get a very good idea of what she was really like. But if you knew the girls and how each one of them reacted to things it would be easy, at least, to see why they differed. Marie got a big charge out of everything. She lived from one exciting moment to the next. Eunice was constantly bored. She was always expecting something bad to happen. She suspected everyone of saying or doing something to hurt her. And, both girls usually got just what they expected.
What you say about someone else will tell the person you are talking to more about yourself than the person you are describing. If you watch people closely you will discover that there are some people who are always looking for something evil to tell about someone else. And, happily, there are others who will have only good to carry.
You are constantly "telling on yourself" when you talk about others. And how you feel about others will uncover how you feel toward God. You cannot love God and dislike God's children.
Help me, O God, never to forget my love for you, and may I show it by my attitude toward others.
