Advanced Level, Block 8—Remnant Standing Properly
Week 77
Accusations
Point to Emphasize: Do we falsely accuse others?
Reference Reading: Ezra 4:6-16; 5:1; 6:8
Memory Verse: You shall not testify with false testimony against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
Story Sample
While the children of Israel were rebuilding the house of God, some tried to frustrate them. They did this by speaking discouraging remarks to them. This prevented the children of Israel from making progress. The ones from Syria and Babylon not only spoke discouraging remarks but also wrote a letter full of accusations to the king of Persia.
They came up with accusations against the Jews who were rebuilding. What does the word accusation mean? [Let the children answer.] An accusation is a charge or claim that someone has done something illegal or wrong. Now, were the Jews doing anything illegal or wrong? [Let them discuss this.] Of course not! The children of Israel were not doing anything wrong! But their adversaries were SO much against what the Jews were doing that they wrote a letter to the new king of Persia full of accusations.
Let’s think about it. To write a letter full of accusations takes deliberation and it takes forethought. When you write a letter accusing someone, you carefully consider every word you will use. You want to cause harm to someone. These accusations might be true or they might be false. But the intention is always to cause damage.
You might think that you would never accuse anyone. But, think about it. Maybe you were jealous that your older sisters didn’t let you borrow their new book. Right away you accuse them and say, “You never let me use your things!” Maybe you were upset that someone didn’t let you join in their game. And you accuse them, “You never let me join in. You just don’t like me!” These are just examples of our accusations against others.
One time I accused a boy of doing something wrong. All the adults were inside and some of us children were outside playing. Before long, we began to quarrel because of this one boy who stood in the way of the rest of us playing a certain game. The arguing became very loud, and my uncle came outside to see what was going on. I was really upset at this boy. So, I accused him of something he did not do. My uncle grabbed the boy and took him inside. Once he was gone, the rest of us were able to play the game that we all wanted to play. However, when it was time to go home, I saw the boy. And something inside of me told me that my accusation against him was very wrong. I felt terrible. I called out to my uncle and told him the truth. I had to apologize to the whole group of children, to the boy, and to the boy’s parents. Even though it was hard to apologize in front of everyone, inside I felt much better. [Storyteller, please share your own example of falsely accusing someone and needing to make it right.]
Even though we rarely write down our accusations, we often have accusing thoughts. We think it, then we speak it. We may accuse our parents of not caring for us when we don’t get our way. We may accuse our sister/brother of borrowing or messing with our stuff. Or perhaps, after getting a low score on a test, you have even accused a teacher of not teaching well. We accuse others, but somehow we find a way to excuse ourselves from being the one at fault. We might find it very easy to put the blame on someone else and accuse them but we see ourselves as the one who always is right and who does things right. This view is self-centered and wrong! It is wrong to accuse others.
We need to realize that we are like this; we are quick to accuse others. After talking about all of this today, we should feel quite bad that we are this way. It would be good if you would go to your parents, and together with them, you can consider how bad you feel about all the accusations you make. They will have a way to help you.