This Brother Of Yours

My Bible reading tonight took me through the Parable of the Lost Son.  The words I used for the title are so powerfully spoken to the older son by the father as he uses that critical moment to teach the oldest what it means to be a brother.  Why is it so easy for us to point out the faults in others?...We almost disown them as we are so frustrated by their actions....our speech and thoughts change to "that son of yours!"  Why do we forget that we too have wandered.....that we have needed (and need and need and need) salvation....that we have been given GRACE that none of us deserved?  Why are we apt to become jealous when the father celebrates the return of one of OUR BROTHERS instead of "raising the roof" for them?  There have been so many books written on these topics...

It is difficult to teach siblings what it means to show brotherly love....in our case....sisterly :)  We had one of those sisterly love issues come up tonight at our last birthday party of the day.....a pretty intense teachable moment.  Isn't that fun when it happens out in public?  A friend of ours said something to us when McKenna was a baby and I am so thankful he did because it was great advice.....he said he had realized it really wasn't about what someone else thought of him as he addressed the teachable moment with his child....so if there is a melt-down in Meijer or at a birthday party, you don't have to be embarrassed by it.....you just have to faithfully discipline and instruct.

I saw a Mother Theresa quote that I saved because it was a good reminder to me of checking my own motives and intentions in how I perceive others.  Here it is...

I guess it is one thing to see others as children of God....but, it is something else entirely to call them "brother"/ "sister" and love them that way.  It is my prayer that I would be done with the judgement junk.....I'm no good at that anyway....I KNOW NOTHING of what motivates others toward their actions.  It is just foolish for me to try.  I pray that I will use my time to LOVE people.  It might be weird because I don't know any other people that do this, but I still wear my purity ring....it is a simple silver band that says LOVE on it.  I switched it to my right hand when Brad and I got engaged, but I never felt like putting it away....I never felt like I should put it away.  It still holds a lot of meaning for me....there are two main things it reminds me....one is that even though I am married I still need to be committed to purity....it's not like there is the purity part of my life and then married life.  AND, because I wore it first, it reminds me that I committed to GOD first and that loving GOD means loving OTHERS.  So many times throughout the day I look at the word on that ring and evaluate myself.  I cannot tell you how many times GOD has used that little ring to redirected my thoughts, attitudes, and/or actions.

Sometimes when I am super frustrated with Brad over something he will say, "just love me".  There are some lines that work their way into the fabric of relationships :) ...I think the Father would say something very similar to us about our brothers and sisters, "just love them".  You know those games we play where we say..."I love you"...."I love you more"...."I loved you first".....God totally wins that every time!