The Fruit Bowl

Bible Reading: Matthew 7:1-5; Luke 11:4

“We’re home!” shouted Gigi, Helena, and Ashley as they walked into the house. Gigi looked around. “Hmm, I guess Mom’s in the garden.”

“She’ll be inside later,” said Ashley. “Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving!”

The girls scrambled into the kitchen and found a fruit bowl in the middle of the table. Each of them reached for a different piece of fruit just as Mom walked in.

“Hey, girls,” said Mom. “How was school today?”

“It was good,” said Helena. “We had a new girl named Brianna in our class.”

“Ooh, I saw her at recess!” said Gigi. “She wouldn’t let anyone else play on the swings.”

“Yeah, and I overheard her saying she’s a Christian too,” Helena said.

Ashley scoffed. “Speaking of Christians, remember Elaine?”

“Didn’t she trust Jesus as her Savior last Sunday?” asked Gigi.

“Yeah,” answered Ashley. “But today I caught her cheating on a test!”

“Girls!” interrupted Mom. “I don’t appreciate the way you’re talking about others like that.”

The girls shrugged and each took a bite out of their fruit. Choruses of “Ew!” “Gross!” “This peach is rotten!” rang around the table.

Mom inspected the fruit bowl. “There is mold on all this fruit. See?” She pointed to a squishy white spot on a plum. “It grows when fruit spoils or sits out for too long. It looks like it got on every piece, so we should throw it all out.”

The girls nodded in agreement, and Mom emptied the fruit bowl.

“You know, girls,” Mom said, turning to face the triplets. “Mold reminds me of how sin works. Just like how each of you picked a different piece of moldy fruit from the bowl, sin tempts us all in different ways—Brianna with selfishness, Elaine with cheating, and you three with gossiping.” The girls gave each other guilty looks. “But the good news is, just like we dumped out the mold, Jesus cleans out our sin. Let’s ask Him for forgiveness right now and pray that He’ll help us be more mindful before we judge others.”

The girls nodded, and they all bowed their heads. Gabriella Hsu

How About You?

What sins do you have a hard time with? Different people struggle with different
sins, but everyone struggles with temptation. Instead of judging other people, we need to remember that we have faults of our own and encourage and help one another when we’re tempted. No matter what sins we struggle with, Jesus will
always forgive us and help us resist temptation.

Today’s Key Verse:
Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (NIV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Christians struggle differently