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"But I say unto you,
LEAST OF THESE.....
A young lady named Sally relates an experience she had in a Seminary Class, given by her teacher, Dr. Smith. She say Dr. Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons. One particular day, Sally walked into the seminary and knew they were in for a fun day. On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts. Dr. Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone that they disliked or someone who had made they angry, and he would allow them to throw darts at the person's picture.
Sally's girlfriend drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of a former friend, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on the face. She was very pleased at the overall effect she had achieved.
The class lined up, and began throwing darts, with much laughter and hilarity. Some of the students threw their darts with such force, that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled with disappointment when Dr. Smith, because of time limits, asked the students to return to their seats. Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn't have a chance to throw any darts at her target.
Dr. Smith began removing the target from the wall. Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus............
A complete hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced. Dr. Smith said only these words:
No other words were necessary; the tear-filled eyes of each student focused only on the picture of Jesus Christ.
Too many times, we think we are justified in seeking revenge when we feel that someone has wronged us. We need to realize that we can never hurt others without also hurting our Lord. All too often, we forget to keep our eyes upon Jesus; if we'd only keep our eyes upon Him, we wouldn't feel the need to "pay back" or "get even". We would remember that even on the cross, His prayer was "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)
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