Back to the Basics

What is the hardest thing to teach a child?

To share.

I am still learning how to share. It is not easy, yet it is simple and profound. It goes against all of our humanness.

I have found that sharing is key to understanding the Gospel of Jesus and key to bringing the Kingdom of God everywhere we go.

When I choose to share, I am saying, "I am satisfied with what I have and I know that I will never be in need. What has been given to me, I give to you."

When I choose to share, I am saying, "This is special to me, but you are more special."

When we share, suddenly, the Kingdom of God seems more attainable and more real. Letting go of the things we hold tightly because of our love for Jesus, gives us an opportunity to take a deep breath and smile. This simple key is acting out our faith in what we have in Jesus.

What do we have in Jesus? We have ALL of Him. We have ALL of what He has. We have eternal life because He chose to give up everything He had for us. And what we have will never go away leave us lacking.

As a family, we value the gift of sharing. It isn't something that is just for our children. Our children would not truly learn how to share if we, thier parents, were not practicing it. We know that if our children can share, their understanding of the Gospel can come more quickly.

Sharing goes against everything we are taught by the world. Our minds must be renewed by His Spirit for us to understand the backwards ways of the Kingdom. When I see my kids arguing over a toy or their favorite sugar cereal, I completely understand. I see the fear in their eyes of what is good will be gone forever. I feel these things too, yet I am not a child anymore. I have learned the Truth and know that I have what I need and will be more than okay if everything in this world is taken from me. (Yes, more to learn on that one.)

As for my children, I teach not only by example but by asking them to share out of their love for each other and Jesus. This does not always make sense to them, but they always know deep in their hearts that it is the Truth. My job as a parent is to bring that Truth to the surface and help them walk it out.

These are hard lessons for all of us. But if we chose to let them choose what they shared, it would not be teaching Truth. It would be teaching inconsistency and conditional love. We want to teach (as best as we can) that God's love is consistent and unconditional.

The Truth is: God shares everything that He has with everyone who will receive, no matter what.