Nathan
Member
I had a very interesting moment last night that provoked a question/thought.
A few of my kids are now teenagers. Those of you who are parents I am sure will understand. They are constantly bickering. Sometimes just joking, sometimes more serious, but whenever they talk to each other your constantly waiting for it to happen. They also get their younger sibling involved. Like a gang I guess.....lol
Don't get me wrong, they love each other. They really do. If they didn't I think I would pull my hair out. But its one of those things that happens so much that the number one request I am going to make on my death bed is for them to stop and get along.
On one side it seems inevitable. I would think its abnormal if it did not happen at all. I know there are families that for some reason have it all worked out, but I know that teenagers have a big tendency to act like this. I am pretty sure its a hormonal thing. Poor kids. I would not want to go through that stage in life again. I think apart of it is also they feel more comfortable with family? I've often thought about psychoanalyzing it all.
Well, last night they were at it again. Not anything horrible, it could be a look, a snide comment, a poke in the back....etc. I was doing the usual, praying that they would hurry up and get on to college and out of the house. Then all of a sudden, one asked the other to do something seeming simple, yet so often is a point of contention, and without one thought the other obligated.
Floored me. I am not a totally emotional guy, but it could have made me cry if I let it. It was beautiful. Yes, it has happened before, it wasn't the first time, but it is a rare event. lol However, more importantly, it immediately caused the thought in my head of what God must feel when He sees us do the same. Honestly, that one moment of pure love shown to each other erased all the previous bickering that had been going on. Interesting thought and feeling I had at that moment.
I thought, all too often we as believers focus so much on our relationship with God - and seemingly trying to be good and do right. My children do the same with me. They are polite, respectful, and they are very respectful of others. However, when it comes to their siblings.......WW3 takes place.
I know we all have read it, but how often do we actually think about the shear amount of passages in the NT that deal with our relationship with each other vs our relationship with God, much less our relationship to others outside the faith. I think it would be a tremendous study to actually look into it.
I believe we pass over it. I am not positive why, anymore than I am positive why my kids are the same way. But it was a real eye opener last night. I'll say that much. I wonder if we could actually come up with a count(not that numbers actually matter) of the passages that deal with each of the things previously mentioned.
Our Relationship to God
Our Relationship to Believers
Our Relationship to the Lost
I am not necessarily suggesting this for here, as in this thread. I just wanted to share. I had trouble thinking of the right place to put this thread so it ended up here. After all, it would make a great Bible Study if a person wanted to pursue it.
A few of my kids are now teenagers. Those of you who are parents I am sure will understand. They are constantly bickering. Sometimes just joking, sometimes more serious, but whenever they talk to each other your constantly waiting for it to happen. They also get their younger sibling involved. Like a gang I guess.....lol
Don't get me wrong, they love each other. They really do. If they didn't I think I would pull my hair out. But its one of those things that happens so much that the number one request I am going to make on my death bed is for them to stop and get along.
On one side it seems inevitable. I would think its abnormal if it did not happen at all. I know there are families that for some reason have it all worked out, but I know that teenagers have a big tendency to act like this. I am pretty sure its a hormonal thing. Poor kids. I would not want to go through that stage in life again. I think apart of it is also they feel more comfortable with family? I've often thought about psychoanalyzing it all.
Well, last night they were at it again. Not anything horrible, it could be a look, a snide comment, a poke in the back....etc. I was doing the usual, praying that they would hurry up and get on to college and out of the house. Then all of a sudden, one asked the other to do something seeming simple, yet so often is a point of contention, and without one thought the other obligated.
Floored me. I am not a totally emotional guy, but it could have made me cry if I let it. It was beautiful. Yes, it has happened before, it wasn't the first time, but it is a rare event. lol However, more importantly, it immediately caused the thought in my head of what God must feel when He sees us do the same. Honestly, that one moment of pure love shown to each other erased all the previous bickering that had been going on. Interesting thought and feeling I had at that moment.
I thought, all too often we as believers focus so much on our relationship with God - and seemingly trying to be good and do right. My children do the same with me. They are polite, respectful, and they are very respectful of others. However, when it comes to their siblings.......WW3 takes place.
I know we all have read it, but how often do we actually think about the shear amount of passages in the NT that deal with our relationship with each other vs our relationship with God, much less our relationship to others outside the faith. I think it would be a tremendous study to actually look into it.
I believe we pass over it. I am not positive why, anymore than I am positive why my kids are the same way. But it was a real eye opener last night. I'll say that much. I wonder if we could actually come up with a count(not that numbers actually matter) of the passages that deal with each of the things previously mentioned.
Our Relationship to God
Our Relationship to Believers
Our Relationship to the Lost
I am not necessarily suggesting this for here, as in this thread. I just wanted to share. I had trouble thinking of the right place to put this thread so it ended up here. After all, it would make a great Bible Study if a person wanted to pursue it.