Last night I was reading my children a bedtime story about Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. They both wanted some money and were trying to come up with a way to get some. Brer Fox didn't want to work for it, so he suggested taking things from other animal's houses and selling them. Brer Rabbit was shocked. "But that's stealing!" Brer Fox disagreed. So Brer Rabbit agreed to it. Brer Rabbit would do the taking and Brer Fox would do the selling. Brer Fox said it didn't matter whose house the stuff came from and he kept insisting that it wasn't stealing. So Brer Rabbit went to Brer Fox's own house and took stuff to sell. Unknowingly, Brer Fox sold his own stuff at the market! When he got home, he was horrified to find his stuff missing. Of course he cried, "I've been robbed. Someone's stolen my things!" His mean plan had backfired.
When Brer Fox was the thief, he said it wasn't stealing. But when he was the victim, it was stealing indeed!
The Bible says in Matthew 7:12 that we should treat others how we would like to be treated.
Just like Brer Fox, when we're the one doing the treating or the 'taking', it doesn't seem so bad. But when we're the victim, it's bad indeed!
When we're the one doing the gossiping, it seems harmless. But when others gossip about us, It's very painful! When we're the one laughing, it's funny. But when we're the one laughed at, it's suddenly very serious!
Keep this story of Brer Fox in mind and remember that stealing is stealing, whether you're the thief or the victim! Gossip is gossip. Lies are lies and so on. We need to treat others how we would like to be treated if we were in their shoes.
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