One Way to Resolve Sibling Rivalry

I'm sad to admit that sibling rivalry began in our home the day we brought home baby #2. I had no idea that there would be such a struggle to see who is the king of the hill!


Since the beginning of time there has been sibling rivalry. In Genesis consider the first two brothers - Cain hated his brother so badly he killed Abel! Then there was Jacob and Esau - twins fighting over birth rights. And then Jacob showed favoritism toward Joseph and once again - sibling rivalry broke out. And then there's Cinderella and her step-sisters - but that's a whole other story right? :-)

I was reading at Titus 2 At the Well yesterday and Glynnis Whitwer wrote an excellent post on siblings serving together - she said:

"Is it a coincidence that the first four disciples Jesus called to follow Him were two sets of brothers? Based on God’s intentionality throughout Scripture, that’s highly unlikely.It wasn’t an accidental choice to pick fishermen, and it wasn’t an accident they were brothers. Yes, Jesus knew just what He was doing when He called the sibling sets of Simon-Peter and Andrew, then James and John to join Him in His mission to teach the good news of the kingdom of God."

This observation is so profound to me!!! Jesus called siblings to be His disciples. These siblings obviously did not have rivalries like the previous list I mentioned. They shared a heart for God and a passion to serve him and together they were greater than when they stood alone. I have two sisters who I call "Partners in Christ". We each have different spiritual gifts but our hearts match in our depth of love for our Savior and our burden to serve God and I love hearing their stories of what God is doing in their lives!

I want this for my children. I want them to be able to share these deeper experiences of serving with each other. If you want this too - then that means we must start now! We should use the summer to look for opportunities for our children to serve together - whether it's making dinner for someone in need or coloring pictures for a loved one - I want them to experience the thrill of being used by God - together - now!

2 days ago the kids and I mulched the flower beds. What could have been a disaster with bad attitudes in the hot July sun was (honestly) so much fun simply because we were working together to accomplish this task for daddy. I told them only "happy hearts" were allowed by the mulch and they rose to the occasion! I wish you could see their pink cheeks in this photo - because they never abandoned post and worked with me for nearly 3 hours - taking that huge pile of mulch they were standing on, down to this little pile!!! We worked together as a team.

It seems to be two steps forward - one step back with the kids and as soon as I post this blog I will probably hear a squabble break out - this keeps me humble! If you are battling sibling rivalry in your home consider starting a project that your kids can do together to take their eyes off of themselves and onto serving God.

Walk with the King!

http://www.womenlivingwell.org/