Possession
Tonight I had to head off another fight between my oldest two, 12 and 13. Try as I might, these talks rarely result in the mutual understanding and peacemaking I attempt to promote, but often end in tears, glares, and general unhappiness. Maybe sometimes we need to be broken - I just wish they would be broken over their own sin instead of each others.
Can you guess what they were fighting over?
My husband brought home an old cell phone about a year ago, and told them that it belonged to them all. This is common in our family; with 4 kids, they tend to share things out of necessity. Eventually we discovered that the phone could be used to text without service, which was useful for when they were home alone, except it had to be signed in under a name. So we put it under the name of our eldest - using Wifi and Facebook Messenger. At some point, he ended up putting all of his stuff on the phone -- e-mail, Facebook, photos-- and he would only let the other children use it under direct supervision. I was unaware that this was going on until tonight. There were vague complaints, "G--'s hogging the phone!" and the defense, "They can use it whenever, I just want to make sure to get it back so it's plugged in!" for months. It didn't seem so serious until tonight, when they both declared that they didn't trust one another and that they were liars. Serious accusations. I confiscated said device until such a time as I will be able to consult with their extremely busy father. I checked - there is nothing to be ashamed of in the phone content, and really nothing worth keeping private either.
That brings me to my main thought for tonight: Is it right for us to claim to possess anything? Everything comes from God and ultimately belongs to Him, but I'm unaware of any command in scripture where we are not allowed to call something ours. Ideally, we would share all of our things with whoever needed them, and everyone would have enough. But that didn't work under communism. It doesn't work in Gabon, Africa, either, where my sister tells me people have to spend their money as soon as they get it since culture dictates that they give money whenever it is requested. Many Africans buy fields or other investments when they come into money. Cash is a big mistake. It makes the entire nation poor, since there is little incentive to work.
As a child, my elementary teachers would laud the American Indians for not owning possessions. "What a great society," they would say, "Where everyone belongs to the land and shares with any in need." I really took this to heart. The sad reality being though, that many of these Native groups killed due to territorial disputes, and their heart condition was no better than ours.
The deadly sin is greed. Society and human nature are so dependent on greed, and yet as believers in Jesus Christ we are called to a higher reality, where we don't just give our cloak but our tunic as well...and we work as if we were working for Christ Himself, even when it doesn't result in greater profit, because it is the right thing to do.
Try as I might, I cannot cure my children or myself from the sin of greed (although Jesus can and will). I can only admonish them to love one another more than their objects, to be aware of their Master in Heaven and choose to please Him...and pray that God brings them to repentance. Please join me in my prayer - we all could use a break from the crushing burden of idolatry; And what is idolatry but to love creations more than the Creator?
Can you guess what they were fighting over?
My husband brought home an old cell phone about a year ago, and told them that it belonged to them all. This is common in our family; with 4 kids, they tend to share things out of necessity. Eventually we discovered that the phone could be used to text without service, which was useful for when they were home alone, except it had to be signed in under a name. So we put it under the name of our eldest - using Wifi and Facebook Messenger. At some point, he ended up putting all of his stuff on the phone -- e-mail, Facebook, photos-- and he would only let the other children use it under direct supervision. I was unaware that this was going on until tonight. There were vague complaints, "G--'s hogging the phone!" and the defense, "They can use it whenever, I just want to make sure to get it back so it's plugged in!" for months. It didn't seem so serious until tonight, when they both declared that they didn't trust one another and that they were liars. Serious accusations. I confiscated said device until such a time as I will be able to consult with their extremely busy father. I checked - there is nothing to be ashamed of in the phone content, and really nothing worth keeping private either.
That brings me to my main thought for tonight: Is it right for us to claim to possess anything? Everything comes from God and ultimately belongs to Him, but I'm unaware of any command in scripture where we are not allowed to call something ours. Ideally, we would share all of our things with whoever needed them, and everyone would have enough. But that didn't work under communism. It doesn't work in Gabon, Africa, either, where my sister tells me people have to spend their money as soon as they get it since culture dictates that they give money whenever it is requested. Many Africans buy fields or other investments when they come into money. Cash is a big mistake. It makes the entire nation poor, since there is little incentive to work.
As a child, my elementary teachers would laud the American Indians for not owning possessions. "What a great society," they would say, "Where everyone belongs to the land and shares with any in need." I really took this to heart. The sad reality being though, that many of these Native groups killed due to territorial disputes, and their heart condition was no better than ours.
The deadly sin is greed. Society and human nature are so dependent on greed, and yet as believers in Jesus Christ we are called to a higher reality, where we don't just give our cloak but our tunic as well...and we work as if we were working for Christ Himself, even when it doesn't result in greater profit, because it is the right thing to do.
Try as I might, I cannot cure my children or myself from the sin of greed (although Jesus can and will). I can only admonish them to love one another more than their objects, to be aware of their Master in Heaven and choose to please Him...and pray that God brings them to repentance. Please join me in my prayer - we all could use a break from the crushing burden of idolatry; And what is idolatry but to love creations more than the Creator?
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