| The Echo One day an angry little boy ran around his village shouting, “I hate you! I hate you!” No one knew quite how to respond to him. Eventually the little boy ran to the edge of a steep cliff and shouted into the valley, “I hate you! I hate you!” Back from the valley came an echo: “I hate you! I hate you!” Startled at this, the boy ran home. With tears in his eyes, he told his mother that there was a mean little boy in the valley who shouted at him, “I hate you! I hate you!” His mother took the boy back to the cliff and told him to shout, “I love you! I love you!” When he did, back came the reply: “I love you! I love you!” From that day on, the little boy wasn't angry anymore.
Where to Take It from Here?
Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you...for with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). Paul put it this way: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Corinthians 9:6). This principle has withstood the test of time. What we do and say will come back to us like an echo. If we want to be treated with respect, we must learn to be respectful. If we want to have friends, we must learn to be friendly. Nobody owes you anything. You only get what you give.
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