Seed of discord

It is interesting to note that no two individuals are quite the same in entirety, even children born from the same womb.  One child might have a more endearing character than the other, or be much smarter than the other.  A child may just be more useful around the house than another. There just might be that tendency for a parent to be very much impressed by a particular child for whatever reason(s) and perhaps unconsciously develop a special liking towards this particular child.

Even in the Bible days, we saw this happen in the case of Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25 from verse 24), where the father loved Esau and the mother loved Jacob. Whilst the father craved to specially bless his favourite child, the blessing was usurped by the other child. A seed of discord was sown between the two brothers.

Also in Genesis 37, we saw that Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons and always treated him as special.  He often stayed at home whilst his brothers were out working and he had his father’s keen attention and got all the special gifts, including his favourite multicolour coat.  This brewed a lot of envy from his brothers and eventually landed him a slave job in a strange land!

Once a parent develops a special liking towards a particular child more than the others, other children can decipher that more easily than we think.  You probably give yourself away by little acts you may take for granted.  Sometimes, we are quick to make a comparison; your brother will never have done that, if only you could be as smart as your sister.... All of these honestly do not go very well with children.  What you are doing unconsciously is sewing a seed of discord, setting up the stage for envy.  Also, you might be killing the other child’s self esteem.  He might just be feeling unloved or feeling like a no good.  We need to watch it!

The better thing to do is to recognise that no two children will be exactly the same and every child has something good to offer, if only we would pay attention to identify that ‘good’.  We need to commend our children for the good virtues they have and try to help them work on their weaknesses.  These will help the child bring out his best and create a better atmosphere for unity.

I think we should make conscious attempt not to display favouritism, should such exist and try our very best to carry our children along equally.

Prayer point: O Lord, help me to love my children equally and not sew a seed of discord amongst them by way of my actions or inactions.  Help my children to grow in unity, loving and supporting one another in Jesus name.  Amen.