A 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
tomatoes. Each tomato will be given a name of
a person that the child hates, so the number of
tomatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic
bag will depend on the number of people he/
she hates. When the day came, every child
brought some tomatoes with the name of the
people he/she hated. Some had 2 tomatoes and
some had up to 5 tomatoes. The teacher then
told the children to carry the tomatoes in their
plastic bags wherever
they go for 1 week. Days after days passed by,
and the children started to complain due to the
unpleasant smell let out by the rotten
tomatoes. After 1 week, the children were
relieved because the game had finally ended.
The teacher asked: How did you feel while
carrying the tomatoes with you for 1 week? The
children started complaining of the trouble that
they had to go through having to carry the
heavy and smelly tomatoes wherever they go.
Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning
behind the game. The teacher
said: "This is exactly the situation when you
carry
your 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 tomatoes for just
1 week, can you imagine what is it like to have
the stench of hatred in your heart for your
lifetime
Throw away any hatred for anyone from your
heart so that you will not carry sins for a
lifetime. Forgiving others relieves you and helps
you to lead a happy life.