“Many years ago I learned what real Christian love can be like,” a woman wrote in a small farm magazine. “Mother was struggling alone to provide for us three children. She did her best, but we barely had enough food and clothing. A Sunday school nearby began inviting the neighborhood children to attend, and Mother said I could go. I used to slip in quietly and leave quickly, ashamed of how I was dressed.
“One day we were told there would be a special treat for us the next Sunday. For each child there would be a small gift and something to eat. How I wanted to go! But how I wished I had something better to wear! I knew some of the children laughed at my shabby dress, so I asked Mother to be sure my best dress was clean.
“That Sunday I was so excited as I went off to Sunday school. How I was looking forward to the special treat!
“ ‘Just look at that poor child over there in such a terribly wrinkled dress! Couldn’t her mother at least iron it for her!’ a mother whispered loudly to her friend. ‘My Amy is in the same class with her, and she tells me that she always looks that way. There’s just no excuse for sending a child to Sunday school looking like that . . . and this is the special treat!’
“I had overheard what they had said, and the words were like a knife to my heart. I couldn’t think about anything else, and the delicious cookies just stuck in my throat. My only thought was to run home and never, never come back. As I sat miserably alone blinking back the tears, the smell of perfume made me aware that someone was very near to me. And just then I felt an arm slip around my shoulders. I looked up into a face so sweet and kind that I shall remember it the rest of my life.
“ ‘Katy,’ she was saying, ‘we are so glad you come! When you finish eating I’d love to walk you home. I’ve been wanting to get to know you better. Would that be all right?’
“She did just that, and as we walked she asked about my family. After a while she very casually asked if my mother possibly needed an iron. ‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘we have one that I would like to bring over . . . if she can use it.’
“Would Mother like an iron! Needless to say we accepted the gift, and through other kindnesses from this lovely Christian lady my wounded heart was healed.
“This incident,” she added, “influenced and colored my whole life.”
This story has a real message for those of us who love the Lord Jesus. Do you stop to think how you hurt other children when you make those sly, unkind remarks to your friends about someone who perhaps isn’t as nicely dressed or as well-liked as you are? Or if someone is standing alone and feeling strange, do you try to make friends with them? Have you ever thought that failing to be kind really hurts the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ? This puts a serious light on actions like these.
Among the things that the Lord Jesus hates is “a proud look” (Proverbs 6:1717A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, (Proverbs 6:17)). He wants His children to “preach the gospel to the poor” and “to heal the broken-hearted” (Luke 4:1818The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)). Jesus also said in Matthew 11:55The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. (Matthew 11:5) that “the poor have the gospel preached to them.” It is wrong to look down on someone or make fun of poorly dressed children who need the Saviour and whom He loves and wishes to save. “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)). Why not try to be kind and reach out to “heal the broken-hearted”? Your friends might snicker, but then again they just might decide to do the same. The commendable woman in Proverbs 3110Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. (Proverbs 31:10) had, among her other qualities, one jewel which we should desire -“In her tongue is the law of kindness” (vs. 26).
ML-05/02/1999