A kindergarten teacher decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato would represent a person that the child hated. The number of potatoes in each would depend on the number of people each child hated.
So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the names of people he/she hated. Some had two potatoes, some had three, and others had up to five potatoes. The teacher then told the children to leave the potatoes in the plastic bag, and take them wherever they went for one week.
Day after day passed, and the children started to complain about the unpleasant smell of the rotten potatoes. Besides, those with five potatoes complained about having to carry heavier bags. After one week, the children were relieved because the game had finally ended.
The teacher asked, “How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for one week?”
The children expressed their frustrations and complained of the trouble they endured while carrying the heavy, smelly potatoes wherever they went.
Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said, “This is exactly what happens when you carry hatred for somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart, and you will carry it with you wherever you go. If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just one week, can you imagine what it is like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for a lifetime?”
Throw away hatred for anyone from your heart so that you will not carry sins for a lifetime.
Forgiving others is the best attitude. Love others even if you don’t like them. True love is not loving a perfect person but loving an imperfect person perfectly.
—Received via the Internet
