Sunday, October 23, 2011

Siblings...

What's it take to be a good older sibling? Virtues such as patience and lovingness and kindness are key, but is there more to being a godly older sister/brother?

The Bible never specifically tells us what us as older siblings ought to do. We do see a few older sibling portrayals in the life of some Bible children, though. Right now, I can remember Moses' older sister who looked out for him. She made sure to put him in the basket in the river and wait till someone picked him up. Then she went and arranged things for Moses to be able to grow up with his mother by his side. She protected him from death.

I can't remember many stories of older siblings who were watching out for their siblings, but we can learn from the sibling rivalries we see in the Bible. Stories like those of Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, and Joseph and his brothers all come to mind. I think of how we can learn from their selfishness, cruelty, and jealousy. These are all things that are still so common today. we have so much to learn from these stories, but many times I read the story as a whole and don't stop to think about what I can learn as an older sister. If I read thinking about what I can learn as a sister, though, I find so much to learn from.

1 John 4:21 says:




And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his
brother.


Imagine! Loving God is just as important as loving our siblings. It says that whoever loves God must love his brother! Our siblings must have a very high place in our lives and I'm afraid (at least in my case), many times we don't have them there. We love them greatly, but we don't always show or tell them. We need to learn to spend more time with them, teach them, love them, and be examples to them.

Can you think of more stories in the Bible that give us examples of siblings and how we can learn from them?

In what ways can we improve our relationship with our siblings?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Sophie :)

3 comments:

  1. I think a big way we can improve relationships with siblings is to simply spend time with them. Nothing speaks louder than quality time :)

    Thanks for the post Sophie! Something I many times overlook :D

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  2. I never read that verses with siblings in mind before, only other people in general. With just that thought that verse opens up a whole new meaning.
    I find spending time with your siblings is the best thing I can do, we have probably all heard that before, but the answer is still the same. Also, when you get to know your siblings, their personalities, what they love, you cant help but love them yourself.

    Blessings,
    Meggie

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  3. A very noble topic indeed! My brother is an avid rejecter of God, he doesn't believe in Him at all and I am a follower of Christ. I think my relationship with him is very important and it can be extremely difficult sometimes to know how to relate to him and to remember to make time for him. We live a few blocks away from each other but don't spend the time together we did when we were kids... I just really surrender that relationship to Christ and I want Him to work it out so He can be glorified. It's not like we ever fight or anything, he just doesn't talk much and spends lots of time on the computer and I am super busy and hardly ever home so it's tough to find common ground. I guess doing common things should not matter much because we could always cook a meal together and play board games. It's also tough witnessing to him because he gets super uncomfortable at any mention of God and he thinks he knows He doesn't exist... ahh I must continue my prayers for God to soften his heart.

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