Once there was a little girl named Molly, and she had a very close friend named Susan. Every day after school they would get together at one of their houses, and they would play with their toys, but one of their favorite games was dress ups.
One day when they were playing dress-ups, they went into Susan’s parents’ bedroom to get some shoes. When Susan disappeared into the big walk-in closet, Molly turned around and noticed that Susan’s mother had left a five dollar bill lying on her desk. Without thinking, and without even knowing why she did it, Molly picked up the money and stuffed it in her pocket. If she had had a moment to think about what she had done, she might have put it back, but just when it was done, Susan popped back out of the closet, shoes in hand. “C’mon, let’s go,” she said.
Molly was absolutely miserable. Susan was right next to her the rest of the day, and she had no opportunity to go back to the bedroom and put it back. And so she began to think different things to keep from being so miserable.
“Susan’s mom is rich. She’ll never miss it.”
“Susan’s mom was mean to me once.”
“I’ll confess it to God. He’ll forgive me.”
“I can’t give the money back. They wouldn’t let me come over here to play anymore.”
“I need it more than Susan’s mom does.”
But the more Molly thought these things to herself, the worse it got. As Sunday approached, she began to think about what it would be like to go to church, feeling like the worst person there. She had never known what the word hypocrite really meant.
As the trays were being passed at church, Molly started to cry, and tugged at her father’s arm. When he leaned over, she whispered. “I have something I have to tell you.”