| “Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.” |
| —Proverbs 14:22 |
Did your high school class have a “class nerd”? Most every high school class has one. Mine was a painfully shy, extremely skinny, extraordinarily bright young man whose arms were so thin that it looked as if a very stiff wind might break his bones. Naturally, he wore glasses, dressed in slightly out-of-fashion clothing, and, on dress-up days, always wore a bow tie. Sadly, he was an easy target. Please, let me explain.
My high school was “segregated.” Not by race, but in a “where are you headed” kind of way. We had college prep kids, business kids, general studies kids, vocational kids—and they rarely had anything to do with each other during the school day. The only class where the four segregated divisions were thrown together was Physical Education class.
This brilliant young man, let me call him “Ray,” had a horror that far surpassed my own experiences with being bullied, which I have chronicled in other blog posts. Because he was so amazingly physically weak, the vocational boys picked on him mercilessly in Phys Ed class. They did this mostly to try to get attention from the college prep girls, whom they always seem to target for dates with their “bad boy” image.
Our gymnasium was divided down the middle by a floor-to-ceiling folding wall: boys gym class on one side, girls gym class on the other side. The vocational boys would often drag poor Ray to the closed doorway built into the folding wall and push him against the door until it opened and then push him over onto the girl’s side of the gym. Then, they would shut the door and not let him back inside. This all came to a head one day, when they grabbed Ray, tore off his gym clothes, and pushed him naked through the door into the girl’s side of the gym.
Ray was absent from school for the rest of the week. When he did return, he never uttered a single word for the remaining four months of the school year—not one word. If a teacher called on Ray, he would just put his head down and shake it slowly from side-to-side.
An investigation disclosed that the vocational boys had plotted a whole series of humiliating taunts for Ray. Foolishly, they had detailed these plans in writing. Their plans were discovered and two of the ringleaders were expelled from high school. But, as far as Ray was concerned, the damage was done.
Unlike those now long ago days, today we talk a lot about bullying when it comes to children. We hardly ever talk about bullying when it comes to adults. I wonder, as adults, how many of us make targets of those we perceive weaker than ourselves.
“Wait a minute,’ you may respond. “I’m not a bully!”
I hope that’s true. But, think for a moment. Have you ever plotted revenge because of something someone has done to you? You know what I mean: “I don’t get mad, I just get even!” That’s you, planning to do evil.
Far more adults, both men and women, are guilty of planning evil. They may not use physical means of bullying. But instead, they may choose to use unkind words, or gossip, or false statements, or a host of non-physical means to get even by bullying, playing on the weaknesses of others. King Solomon had something to say about this when he wrote these words, recorded in Proverbs 14:22:
Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.
Let’s search our hearts today. If we have ever made plans to hurt someone, get even with someone, or purposefully cause someone harm, let’s ask God to forgive us and also ask the one we planned to harm to forgive us, as well. And, if someone hurts our feelings or does some other action to harm us, let’s not respond in kind. Rather, let’s meet such behavior with God-breathed love. Let’s determine to spend our time planning the good, rather than planning evil. That’s certainly a much better way to live.
Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, June 2, 2017
