Living in the Spirit
July 8, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Genesis 25:19-24 

The children struggled together within her; and she said, ‘If it is to be this way, why do I live?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her,
‘Two nations are in your womb,
   and two peoples born of you shall be divided;
one shall be stronger than the other,
   the elder shall serve the younger.’ — Genesis 25:22-23

So begins a saga of deception and intrigue. The two boys in Rebekah’s womb are Esau and Jacob—the first the father’s favorite and the second the mother’s. Jacob was a manipulator. We would probably call him a shrewd businessman today. Esau became an outdoorsman apparently a hard worker with little guile. How much of those traits were in their DNA and how much was taught them, I wonder?

Early childhood specialist indicate that the character of most children is well on its way to formation by the time they are three years old. Whether we like it or not, most adults rear their children like they were parented. For those of us who had “good” parental role models we laugh in later years when we recognize some of their traits in ourselves. Usually it is the same trait that once irritated us when we experienced it with our mother or father. Even when ones parental role model was very “poor” or even worse abusive, those traits are very, very hard to change. Change is, however, not impossible.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if such change could be realized before a child is born, if we could reach the teenage mothers and fathers and help them learn to postpone parenthood until they were more mature, if we could give new parents the tools to nurture their own babies, if we could make wholeness a reality for broken spirits?

We can, you know. God empowers us with the ability to love our neighbors and that love coupled with a whole lot of hard work and patience and dedication can change lives as well as move mountains.

Prayer: Father and Mother of all, instill in us the traits of your love and make us champions for all your children even those who are parents. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.