Growing up we were allowed to fight. I'm not quite sure why. If we went to mom then we were tattle tales and then got womped more the next time. It seems like, from my memories, that it was a love-hate relationship with my siblings. Or a jealousy thing. Or a power struggle.
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:1-3 New International Version (NIV)
Last night at youth group I saw some siblings "fighting" they were waging war together against an unknown enemy...they were playing together. Then I saw siblings waging war against each other. I asked them to stop it and another kid (who has 2 siblings) said, their just siblings...that's what they do. Another group of siblings were near him and just shook their heads in approval.
Say it ain't so!
When we fought, I'm sad to confess it, I was the leader of it for part of the time. I fought with it's my way or the highway! I'm the oldest of 6. And a lot of the time (well they would probably all say all of the time) I acted like it. I was (am) bossy and I know now that I can use this power of being the oldest for their good or for mine. In my BC (before Christ) days...it was all about me. I am confident of that. Nowadays it is a struggle between what's in it for me and what's in it for them? I wish I could say that it isn't a struggle, but I don't believe it will be that way until I'm in heaven. This side of heaven it's a choice still.
I'm sad that I acted more like a mom last night at youth group and simply made the kids stop quarreling with one another and didn't have a more relational way of handling it. I'm sad that they war against each other. I wish that I could better explain that it doesn't have to be that way when both siblings love Jesus....they should be able to love each other....
...but then again, shouldn't we be able to do that with anyone who loves Jesus?
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:1-3 New International Version (NIV)
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