So...there I am in English class doing an in-class quiz correction over another student's quiz. I have never really talked to the girl who's quiz I was presently correcting until she looked at me and said, "I'm gonna change that." I had no idea what was going on so I looked at her and responded by saying, "huh?" She, a little annoyed, looked at me and then said the same thing again. I then had to repeat myself a little louder, and a little more confused. She then pointed at her quiz and and the answer she had just gotten wrong.
Now, here's the thing, the one thing I hate about being a Christian is being called a "goody-two-shoes." So, when she pointed at her quiz that I was grading and said she was going to change her answer so that she would get the answer right everything in me wanted to just recline in the chair, put my hands on my head, and say, "yeah for sure." But, my stomach was cringing like it never has before! I mean it's just a quiz right? I should just let this one thing slide right....Then I remembered the verse in Acts 20:26 that says, "...I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you", and I realized my job wasn't to necessarily cause a scene in the entire room and stop this woman who I have never talked to before from cheating; my job was to sincerely love her like Christ has and remind her of another option she could take instead of cheating, and that option was just to get the answer wrong.
So, I looked at her, and fearing being labeled a "goody-two-shoes", said to her, "Are you sure you wanna do that...it's cheating ya know?" Following this was a moment of pure beauty....she stopped. She became immensely hesistant and I was jumping for joy! I started saying in my mind, "I just changed someone's mind from cheating!" And it was then that the moment ended. She, took her pen and marked her answer to be correct, and changed one from earlier too.. I tried to show love to someone else by looking out for them and I believe that's what life is all about.
My point isn't that I did anything "heroic" or even to some "admirable." My point is that I tried to have integrity in the little things, and integrity, I believe, means looking out for those around you as well as yourself.
Now, here's the thing, the one thing I hate about being a Christian is being called a "goody-two-shoes." So, when she pointed at her quiz that I was grading and said she was going to change her answer so that she would get the answer right everything in me wanted to just recline in the chair, put my hands on my head, and say, "yeah for sure." But, my stomach was cringing like it never has before! I mean it's just a quiz right? I should just let this one thing slide right....Then I remembered the verse in Acts 20:26 that says, "...I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you", and I realized my job wasn't to necessarily cause a scene in the entire room and stop this woman who I have never talked to before from cheating; my job was to sincerely love her like Christ has and remind her of another option she could take instead of cheating, and that option was just to get the answer wrong.
So, I looked at her, and fearing being labeled a "goody-two-shoes", said to her, "Are you sure you wanna do that...it's cheating ya know?" Following this was a moment of pure beauty....she stopped. She became immensely hesistant and I was jumping for joy! I started saying in my mind, "I just changed someone's mind from cheating!" And it was then that the moment ended. She, took her pen and marked her answer to be correct, and changed one from earlier too.. I tried to show love to someone else by looking out for them and I believe that's what life is all about.
My point isn't that I did anything "heroic" or even to some "admirable." My point is that I tried to have integrity in the little things, and integrity, I believe, means looking out for those around you as well as yourself.
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