For Kids February 18, 2019 Issue

How a bully became a friend

Jennifer Ann Gordon

Diane was a bully. Most of the kids were terrified of her. And she singled me out. During gym class one day, she made fun of me and kept tapping me on the head with a tennis racket. There was no escaping her; she followed me everywhere.

When I got home from school that day, I went into my bedroom and thought things through. Diane seemed like an enemy, but I had learned in my Christian Science Sunday School class that Jesus taught us to “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27, 28, New International Version). That meant loving someone who seemed a little scary, who was acting like an enemy. But how was I supposed to do that?

I’d also learned in my Sunday School class that since God is Love, God couldn’t create His children to be mean. Because we are created in God’s, Love’s, image, we are each loving, loved, intelligent, and good. I knew that seeing someone as God’s loved child—the way they truly are—could heal anything.

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