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Smile please!
'What a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God!' Genesis 33:5
'I hate him!' 'Tell her to stop annoying me!' 'Mum, she's wearing my clothes again!' 'Why is it always me who does the dishes?' 'Hey, I was watching that, turn it back!' And so we could go on. Growing up with brothers and sisters can be hard: competition, tension, fighting and arguing are daily occurrences. It's always been that way.
Go right back to Genesis and you'll find it there too. Jacob and Esau were twins born to Issac and Rebecca. Esau was born first, which in those days meant that he would inherit everything from his dad. Jacob was jealous and was always fighting with Esau about it, until one day, just before their dad died, Jacob tricked their dad - so he got everything, not Esau. Jacob was chuffed with himself until he found out Esau was so mad he wanted to kill him. Knowing his brother was serious, Jacob legged it!
Years later when they met up again, Jacob was convinced his brother would kill him but when they met, 'Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.' Jacob burst out crying, he couldn't believe his brother had chosen to forgive him:
'What a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God!' Learn from Esau, and when people wrong you, forgive them. Hug and smile and let them see the 'face of God'. Yes, even your brothers and sisters!
written by Bob Gass
'What a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God!' Genesis 33:5
'I hate him!' 'Tell her to stop annoying me!' 'Mum, she's wearing my clothes again!' 'Why is it always me who does the dishes?' 'Hey, I was watching that, turn it back!' And so we could go on. Growing up with brothers and sisters can be hard: competition, tension, fighting and arguing are daily occurrences. It's always been that way.
Go right back to Genesis and you'll find it there too. Jacob and Esau were twins born to Issac and Rebecca. Esau was born first, which in those days meant that he would inherit everything from his dad. Jacob was jealous and was always fighting with Esau about it, until one day, just before their dad died, Jacob tricked their dad - so he got everything, not Esau. Jacob was chuffed with himself until he found out Esau was so mad he wanted to kill him. Knowing his brother was serious, Jacob legged it!
Years later when they met up again, Jacob was convinced his brother would kill him but when they met, 'Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.' Jacob burst out crying, he couldn't believe his brother had chosen to forgive him:
'What a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God!' Learn from Esau, and when people wrong you, forgive them. Hug and smile and let them see the 'face of God'. Yes, even your brothers and sisters!
written by Bob Gass