SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST DEVOTIONAL FOR CHILDREN: “The Fence”

*DAILY BREAD: A DEVOTIONAL FOR THE CHILDREN*

Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Children’s Ministries Department

*THEME: I WILL GO*

Friday, November 26, 2021

*Topic: The fence*

_Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. James 1:19-20_

There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.
It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.

But your best friend of all should be Jesus. Show your friends how much you care. Always remember the fence before you speak words of anger.” Use words for good purposes. Use them to grow relationships. Use them to show the love and kindness in your heart!” Be like Jesus.

*Song*
Angry words! oh, let them never
From the tongue unbridled slip:
May the heart’s best impulse ever
Check them ere they soil the lip.

Chorus:
“Love one another,” thus saith the Saviour;
Let us obey the Father’s blest command;
“Love one another,” thus saith the Saviour;
Let us obey His blest command.

2 Love is much too pure and holy,
Friendship is too sacred far,
For a moment’s reckless folly
Thus to desolate and mar.

3 Angry words are lightly spoken,
Bitt’rest tho’ts are rashly stirred,
Brightest links of life are broken,
By a single angry word.

*Prayer*
Almighty and All-Powerful Father, help me feel calm when I become angry. When pressure and conflict make me feel surrounded, remind me that I am surrounded by your presence. When you are with me I have no need to lash out in anger. Please remove my anger towards other people and replace it with trust in your provision and care. May confidence in your love replace any anger about my circumstances. When I feel angry due to unmet expectations, remind me that satisfaction can be found only in you. May the love of the Father, the grace of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit be with me today. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.