Parent Wants

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. ~ James 3:16

"What happened?" I ask my four year old as I run out into the yard to find my six year old crying and Isaac standing over him with somewhat of a sly look on his face.
"Well, I wanted to see Sam's new Spiderman bat and he wouldn't let me...so I hit him," Isaac answers nonchalantly.
"Isaac, if Sam had it first, you can't take it out of his hand. Plus, you should not have hit your brother. You needed to wait until he was done playing with it instead of ripping it out of his hand." I reach for Samuel and rub the top of his head where there is sure to be a small welt.

Everywhere you look in this world today people are trying to get what they want when they want it. I know the story of my boys is small and maybe even trite, but the point is that envy and selfishness start at an early age. I've said it before, this world is full of narcissistic people who care more about themselves and what they want than anything else. There's the Ponzi scheme, the murdered spouse for money, the thief, the man who covets his neighbors wife, and even me...who sometimes envies her friends' possessions when mine are more than enough. I wish I could spend my tax return on a big screen flat panel t.v., but no, we have to owe instead. We wonder why the world is so messed up sometimes and I suggest that it's partly because of the envy and selfish ambitions of a fallen world. After all, if we didn't have envy we would all be content with what we have and there would be no room for jealousy. For some, if we didn't envy we would not have the evil thoughts that then invade our minds and cause the turmoil in our lives. Our lives would not be polluted with thoughts of how to keep up with, or even beat the Jones' and we'd have more time and space for selfless acts and thoughts. If we were not selfish, we would put others first most of the time and we would not be in constant pursuit of our own happiness. Don't get me wrong, we need to be in pursuit of our dreams and desires, but sometimes we get our own dreams and desires confused with the ones God has placed in our hearts. Without envy and selfishness we would be more concerned with what GOD wants us to do and not with what WE want to do. In turn, peace and love would prevail and disorder and evil would dissipate.

Later that night Sam did get a small welt, but his little brother asked him to forgive him and they went on their happy way. It starts young, but if we could teach our children how God would want them to deal with envy and selfishness we would be giving our children and their future a healthy start and I know that's what every parent wants. ~