Tag: Godly parenting

By our fruit

I planted an apple tree in my front yard a few years ago. Last summer I was thrilled to get the first apple. This year nothing. It is still little so I’m assuming in time it will bear fruit. This summer there was no way to identify it as an apple tree (for non-tree experts).

The crab apple in the back yard has blossoms that look similar to any cherry blossom. And yet, it produces little tart apples. The fruit is what defines the tree.

My youngest daughter told me about a conversation she and some group members had during a class discussion. I listened as she explained everyone’s positions, what she said and on. But near the end she said something that made me sit up and take notice. After class one member of the group came up to her and asked, “Are you a Christian?” Mari said that she is. God has a way of reminding us of our greatest blessings!

Matthew 12: 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

Keeping a record

My youngest often asks me to rate her and her siblings at various tasks. “Mom, who is the best at doing the dishes?” or “Mom, am I better at this than the other kids?” I think it’s her way of differentiating herself, of finding her own identity as the last in the family. There are things that she is good at doing and I don’t mind praising her when she does something well.

The other night she asked me one of these comparison questions and I replied, “I don’t want to keep score. I don’t want to be compiling a list of things that each of you do well and poorly. I just want to recognize when you do something well and that’s it.”

She understood what I was saying and figured it made sense.

Of course after we had the conversation a scripture came to mind, a small verse, but so on the mark that it rang in my mind.

I Corinthians 13: 5 It [love] does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.