The members of the royal staff at the King’s Gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command?” When they had warned him day after day and he still would not listen to them, they told Haman to see if Mordecai’s actions would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew. Esther 3:3-4 HCSB
In general all four of my children enjoyed being together as children and even today I am blessed that my adult children still enjoy getting together to spend time on vacation or to celebrate a birthday. There were times as young children that they seemed to enjoy getting the other one in trouble. Sometimes one of the them would “tattle” or “tell” on one of the others in hopes of getting the other sibling in trouble. At times this was a ploy to divert my attention to one of the other children in an effort that he or she could get the other child in trouble and find favor with me.
That is exactly what the royal staff was doing. They ran to Haman to “tattle” on Mordecai. They told Haman what Mordecai was doing with the hope of getting him in trouble and finding favor with Haman. Being a “tattletale” is not a becoming characteristic and usually stems from selfish attitudes and the desire to be seen as supportive of someone. The royal family may not have liked bowing to Haman, therefore did not like the fact that Mordecai was getting away with disobeying the king’s order. They decided to point out that Mordecai was not following the king’s command; furthermore they wanted Haman to know that Mordecai was a Jew.
Challenge: Have you been a tattletale in an effort to get someone in trouble? Evaluate your personal desires and ambitions. Think of others more highly than yourself. Focus on what would be best for others instead of what is best for you, then seek to do what would benefit other people.