Nails in the Fence

Est. Reading Time: 3 minutes

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out, but it won’t matter how many times you say, ‘I’m sorry,’ because the wound will still be there. And a verbal wound is just as bad as a physical one.”
The moral of the story is that once a wrong is committed it certainly can be forgiven, but sometimes it is impossible to remove the scar of what has been done, just as it was impossible to remove the nail holes in the fence.

This is one of the consequences of sin that we must realize stays with us even though the sin itself may be forgiven.

Consider a few other examples:

1. A Drunkard: The man who lives the life of a drunkard and then turns his life around and becomes a Christian can be forgiven of such sin, but the destructive power of the alcohol has ruined his kidneys, which cannot be reversed. The damage has been done. The scar of sin is left on its victim.
2. The drug addict burns his mind out and then comes to the truth. He can be forgiven, but the damaged brain cells cannot be replaced, so he lives with the scar.  
3. The smoker may come to realize the error of his ways and give up smoking, but not until his lungs are consumed with cancer or a lingering cough persists the rest of his or her life.
4. A person commits fornication or adultery and a child is the product of that sin. The child is not born into sin, and certainly is not responsible for the sin of its parents, but a sin has been committed. A sin that certainly can be forgiven, but the child will be the reminder that a sin has been committed.  
5. Even as the previous story about “holes in the fence” suggest that words of anger, exhibits of hatred, actions of jealousy, strife, and such things will leave their mark on the victims of such. And many times, these actions, though forgivable, are often not forgettable, especially by the world.

A suggestion to all of us today is to be very careful each day that we do not do sinful things, which at the end of the day we would regret and may leave a mark on our friends, love ones, neighbors and yea, even our enemies.  

It’s better to have never “driven the nail” than to need to remove it and witness its mark for the rest of our lives.

One of the ways that you can do this is to draw near to the Lord, and walk as closely as you can in His footsteps so that, at the end of every day, you can look back upon your time, not with any regrets, but with joy.

Psalm 51:1-3 says, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight— that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.”

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