The Bully

Strangely enough, this weekly thought is based on something I learned from observing fish. I have a 20-gallon tank in my office that my daughter, Ellie loves to look at and help me manage. Unfortunately, when Covid hit, I apparently did something wrong with my fish tank,  couldn’t get to PetSmart for a water-test kit and sadly, all my fish died. We had no fish left to care for, but six months later, we went to the store and bought two new fish.

Ellie picked a white Molly, which she named Eliver and a beautiful blue Gourami named Lisa. As I said, we only bought two fish, but two days later, we discovered ten fish  in our tank. Eliver gave birth to eight little ones and now we had a full house. Ellie was thrilled.

But there was a problem. Eliver was extremely aggressive. One day,  I was on a call with my boss but as I looked over toward the tank, I literally watched Eliver attack Lisa. She pushed her, bit her,  and outright bullied her. She killed the other fish. I was furious watching this happen but I could not get out of the meeting quickly enough to do anything. The emotions welled inside me and I wanted to smash that  little fish. It made me so angry to watch even though they were just fish. I couldn’t help but think about how God’s anger rages when others are mistreated or abused. 

As my anger boiled  watching an insignificant little fish bully another, I realized that God must feel this way when he watches us do this to each other.  When adults beat up and abuse each other, parents mistreat and/or abuse kids,  or even when kids attack each other, it makes God mad because it is not His way--it is not the way of love. 

To tell you how much God hates this selfishness and the abuse of others, he nearly ended the world because of it. Fortunately, one man, Noah, was full of love and God saved the human race through him. We are called to love and to stand up for what is right,  pure and true. We are to stop senseless killing and abuse and to live in peace with others. As God’s children and His greatest creation, we are to value others as God does. 

Here are some important questions for this week to focus on and answer:

1) How well do you love others? 

2) Do you stand up for what is right and true in God’s eyes?

3) Who can you love and support today?     

Prayer: “Lord Jesus, I love you. I need you. Please guide my life. Help me to be selfless and loving instead of selfish and anxious. Help me to not to get angry over the things I worry about in life but to only be angry about the things that anger you. Help me to stand up for what is right, in love for you and others.  Help me never to bully but to stand up for those who are bullied. In Jesus name,  Amen!”

 Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1-2, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.