Wisdom

I tutor 13-15 8th grade girls every Monday for the SCEEP program, with about 7 other tutors ranging from freshman in high school to retired school teachers. Recently, I overheard the group of three high school girls talking about how hard classes are, what colleges they want to go to, and then they veered the conversation to making fun of another girl they know from school, which they did for the remainder of our time together.

In high school I was one of those people who was the cusp of being popular but never really fit in with the "in" crowd. This could possibly be the worst place to be. Why? Because you get invited to some of the popular crowd's gatherings for the sole reason to be made fun of. It didn't take me long to figure that out.

Because of this, I was able to sympathize with the girl who was being made fun of (even though she wasn't present). And I wanted to jump in and share wisdom with these vicious girls - chiefly, to treat others with respect (especially since two of the girls are Christian and the other is Jewish, making them all responsible for Lev 19:18) and that if you wouldn't say something to a person's face, then its gossip. But I caught myself. Should I chastize someone I don't really know that well? Or are we called as Christians to share words of wisdom with all of our brothers and sisters?

I'm still searching for that answer.