smellycat

this story means to me,this little boy kept pretending he needed help from people,and this happened many many times,when in fact he does need help at the end,nobody believes him and he loses everything.what does this story mean to you?

Unconventional

I always looked at it from the Boy's angle. Yes, he was annoying. Yes, he caused a great deal of trouble. Yes, he was a fool.

But the right thing for the townspeople to do would be to suffer a fool.

__________________
The foundations that we used to uphold
Now regarded as the madness of old
Every alteration made to the standard of truth
Is a nail in the coffin we hold
We embody everything they despise
Because they see us through degenerate eyes
So when they cast you down as intolerant filth
Stand firm, never bow to the lies
Demon Hunter - "Relentless Intolerance"

smellycat

so when you change townspeople and replace that name with God,then you get more understanding.

Unconventional

Well the story I'd always heard is that the boy was looking after his father's flock. When he continually cried wolf falsely, that decreased the father's confidence in him, so when the boy cried legitimately, the father ignored him and lost what he (the father) owned as a result.

Suppose that one of your friends continually cries for help in a sin he struggles with, only to fall back into it. Eventually his "cries for help" turn into "moaning and whining" in our minds. The right thing for us to do is to persevere, though it certainly has an effect on our resources.

If a friend of mine continually asks for money to get him out of his debts because of a habitual gambling problem, I might give him money the first time. After that, I might suggest ways for him to resist gambling. Eventually, my help will be limited to praying for him and supporting him when he wants to be free of his problem, but I can no longer trust him enough to give him money. We can't allow a fool to drain us of our resources, but we can use wisdom in interceding for them. In the father's case, he could provide help to the boy, but his help might be limited to fighting off the wolf. Then the boy might lose the privilege of looking after the flock, and instead be limited to cleaning their pen.

__________________
The foundations that we used to uphold
Now regarded as the madness of old
Every alteration made to the standard of truth
Is a nail in the coffin we hold
We embody everything they despise
Because they see us through degenerate eyes
So when they cast you down as intolerant filth
Stand firm, never bow to the lies
Demon Hunter - "Relentless Intolerance"

smellycat

it,s a message from God to myself saying buck your ideas up,stop whinning.do what is right.

Dusty

Very good illustration. Because if you continue to give this person money you are enabling him .... not helping him.

I have a friend who continues to give to another who is always whining that she has no money but when you see where she spends her money unwisely upon extravigant things that she cannot afford and then can't pay her bills . Then she comes to my freind.... cying and my freind has a very soft heart and gives to her again. I told her but she just continues to enable this person to go round and round . Sorry but to me some tough love has to be shown in this instance. I must be a good steward of my money.

__________________

Trials prove a Christian

Love confirms a Christian

But death crowns a Christian

Boanerges

Tough love- sometimes helping is ultimately hurting and not helping is the best way to help someone grow up-