Chocolate Without Sugar

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-7; Ephesians 4:29

“Ada totally ignored me at our class party,” Ellie told her friend Kayla. “What a snob!”

“Yeah,” said Kayla. “Lots of times she doesn’t speak to me either—unless she wants help with math or something. She’s so two-faced! But who needs Miss Stuck-Up anyway?” Kayla glanced at the clock. “Oh, it’s getting late. I better go.”

After Kayla left, Ellie went to the kitchen. “Are you making brownies?” she asked her mom.

“Yes, I am,” Mom answered as she measured sugar.

“Yum!” Ellie picked up a spoon that still held a bit of chocolate and stuck it in her mouth before Mom could stop her. “Oh, yuck!” Ellie groaned and made a face. “This tastes awful! Mom, what’s wrong with this chocolate?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s unsweetened chocolate. It doesn’t have sugar in it,” Mom explained. “I was going to warn you, but it was too late.” Thoughtfully, she added, “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation with Kayla. It was something like that chocolate.”

“What do you mean?” Ellie asked in surprise.

“Well, chocolate without sugar is bitter, isn’t it? Things we say can be bitter too—and it seems to me the things the two of you said were just that. Bitter—with no sweetness at all.”

“But all we said is that Ada is stuck-up, and she is! We’re not mean to her. We’re always helping her with homework and stuff.”

“That may be, but your words don’t match your actions, and we can’t show others love through one but not the other. Both our words and our actions need to be filled with kindness and compassion to show others the love of Jesus. Ada may not be perfect, but neither are you. Yet Jesus shows you love through both His words and His actions. The Bible speaks of His love for us, and He showed it to us by dying for our sins so we could be saved.”

Ellie sighed. “But Ada didn’t even hear us.”

“I’m glad of that, but the Bible says our words should ‘benefit those who listen.’ I heard what you said, and I didn’t find any of it beneficial. Chocolate needs to be sweetened to taste good, and our actions and words need to be sweetened too—sweetened with love.” -Irene C. Strobel

How About You?

Are the words you speak sweetened with love? Or are they filled with bitterness? It’s not enough to be patient and helpful when someone asks for something but then talk about them behind their back. The Bible tells us to show love through both our words and our actions. Use your words to build others up and benefit those who hear them.

Today’s Key Verse:
Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up… that it may benefit those who listen. (NIV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Do everything with love