Bible Reading: Matthew 5:44-46

Roman stomped into the house and headed for the stairs, not even bothering to say hello to his family. "Hey there, Roman!" Dad called from his place at the counter. Roman mumbled something and then proceeded upstairs and slammed his bedroom door. The house shook.

Eva, his sister, entered the house a moment later. Mom finished chopping a potato and gave her a hug. "What's wrong with Roman?" Mom asked.

Eva opened the fridge and dug out an apple. "Well, this kid named Carson Peters keeps bullying and teasing him," she replied. "Especially on the walk home from school."

Later that evening, Roman was asked to help make his mom's famous homemade applesauce. As he chopped apples, he remembered some of the things Carson had said to him on the way home from school. Infuriated, Roman slammed the knife into the apple. The apple squished and splattered all over him and the counter.

"Oh dear. I suppose that was a rotten apple. I should be more careful when I pick out the bags at the market," Mom said, wiping the gunk off Roman and the surrounding area. "Why did you slam the knife so hard?" she asked. "You could've hurt yourself."

"Well, I--I was just thinking about what this guy Carson said to me earlier. He says a lot of mean things."

"I think how you're dealing with this is a bit like that rotten apple," Mom said as she mashed up the good apples. "You've been holding all this inside. Allowing angry, bitter feelings like that to stay in your heart can make you rot inside. Eventually, they would've overflowed--or in your case, exploded."

Roman sprinkled some cinnamon into the apple mixture. "I guess I thought I could deal with it on my own."

"Sometimes the only way to deal with something--or someone--is to ask for help," said Mom. "Jesus loves you so much that He died to save you, and He wants you to go to Him with your problems and hard feelings. He also puts people in your life to help you--like your dad and me. Let us help with the situation, and trust God to help you release those feelings and replace them with His love and peace."

–Taylor Carey