Author: Rhodes Davis

In Romans 12:21, Paul wrote to “not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us to do good to those who treat us badly. This does not seem natural to us. When someone is mean to us, we often want to be mean back to them.

When act mean to people who are mean to us, we make the world a darker place. When we act good towards people who do not deserve it, we bring glory to God.

Jesus said that if we love our enemies, say good things about our enemies when they speak evil of us, do good to those who do not like us, and pray for those who are mean to you, that you prove yourself a child of God (Matthew 5:38-48).

I will freely admit that this is a very difficult thing to do every day. It makes us feel bad when others treat us unkindly. We must remember that a person who does this often has a small view of himself or herself. If we allow them to make us think less of ourselves, then they feel better about themselves.

There is no worse thing for a bully than to find someone who will act kind when bullied and does not care when the bully makes fun of them. When you do not allow their opinion to matter to you, you take away their power.

If you pray for the bully and help them when they are in need, it is hard for him to continue to have such a bad attitude towards you.

When I was in high school there was a boy who used to flick my ears and bother me in class. One day I turned around and, without whining or yelling, asked why he enjoyed it so much. He looked surprised; I guess no one had ever asked him. Embarrassed, he said, “I don’t know. I just do it.” But from that day on, he did not do it anymore and, in fact, became a friend!

Not everyone will become your friend but you do not have to answer their evil with evil. Jesus was good to those who were evil; we should be too.

In Ecclesiastes 7:1, Solomon said that a good name was “better than precious ointment (something that indicated wealth in those days).” Proverbs 22:1 says that a good name is better than great riches. Great riches can provide a life of ease and comfort but if we have to sacrifice our good name to get it, we pay too great a price for so little return.

A good name means that a person has a good reputation (they are known for doing the right thing). We must work hard to make sure that we have a good name and protect it from being a bad name.

Paul told Timothy that, although he was young, he must be a good example to other believers, 1 Timothy 4:12. Your parents, teachers, members of the church, and other good men and women will not look down on you when you live like Jesus did. When you do this you bring honor to Jesus’ name.

You honor Jesus by telling the truth, even if it will get you into trouble. You honor Jesus by loving others and trying to help them. If we lie, steal, or are mean to others, we do not bring honor to Jesus; we bring shame to His name.

We must always remember how quickly a good name can become a bad name. Wealthy people buy security systems, safes, and hire guards to protect their silver and gold; your reputation is more valuable than silver and gold; therefore, be careful to protect it from damage.

Remember how Solomon said that a good name was like precious ointment? He also said, in Ecclesiastes 10:1 that a bad name is like bad smelling perfume filled with flies.

When we have a good reputation it brings honor to us, our parents, and Jesus. When people know us for doing bad things it does not honor Christ, brings shame to our parents, and causes us to feel bad about ourselves.

If you feel that your name is considered good, keep up the good work and do not do things that would give you a bad name.

If you feel that your name is not known for good things, change now and do good things so that people will see the change in your life. Over time you might be able to rebuild a good name—do not give up.

Always remember that it takes a lifetime to build a good reputation yet only a few minutes to destroy it.

Author Unknown
There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it.

He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch the next day Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.”

But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.” Then she whispered to him, “Remember the duck?” So Johnny did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally just smiled and said,” Well that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help.” She whispered again, “Remember the duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed the he had killed the duck.

Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

Author Unknown

A father of some teenage children had the family rule that they could  not attend PG-13 or R rated movies. His three teens wanted to see a particular popular movie that was playing at local theaters. It was rated PG-13. The teens interviewed friends and even some members of their family’s church to find out what was offensive in the movie.

The teens made a list of pros and cons about the movie to use to convince their dad that they should be allowed to see it. The con’s were that it contained ONLY 3 swear words, the ONLY violence was a building exploding (and you see that on TV all the time they said), and you actually did not “see” the couple in the movie having sex – it was just implied sex, off camera.

The pros were that it was a popular movie – a block buster. Everyone was seeing it. If the teens saw the movie then they would not feel left out when their friends discussed it. The movie contained a good story and plot. It had some great adventure and suspense in it. There were some fantastic special effects in this movie.

The movie’s stars were some of the most talented actors in Hollywood. It probably would be nominated for several awards. Many of the members of their Christian church had even seen the movie and said it wasn’t “very bad”. Therefore, since there were more pros than cons the teens said they were asking their father to reconsider his position on just this ONE movie and let them have permission to go see it.

The father looked at  the list and thought for a few minutes. He said he could tell his children had spent some time and thought on this request. He asked if he could have a day to think about it before making his decision. The teens were thrilled thinking, “Now we’ve got him! Our argument is too good! Dad can’t  turn us down!” So, they happily agreed to let him have a day to think about their request.

The next evening the father called in his three teenagers, who were smiling smugly, into the living room. There on the coffee table he had a plate of brownies. The teens were puzzled. The father told his children he had thought about their request and had decided that if they would eat a brownie then he would let them go to the movie. But just like the movie, the brownies had pros and cons.

The pros were that they were made with the finest chocolate and other good ingredients. They had the added special effect of yummy walnuts in them. The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful chocolate frosting on top. He had made these fantastic brownies using an award winning recipe. And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of  their own father.

The brownies only had one con. He had included a little bit of a special ingredient. The brownies also contained just a little bit of dog poop. But he had mixed the dough well –  they probably would not even be able to taste the dog poop and he had baked it at 350 degrees so any bacteria or germs from the dog poop had probably been  destroyed. Therefore, if any of his children could stand to eat the brownies which included just a “little bit of poop” and not be effected by it, then he knew they would also be able to see the movie with “just a little bit of smut” and not be effected.

Of course, none of the teens would eat the brownies and the smug smiles had left their faces. Only Dad was smiling smugly as they left the room. Now when his teenagers ask permission to do something he is opposed  to the father just asks, “Would you like me to whip up a batch of my special brownies?”