Always and never. Two words that are wicked dangerous in ye’ole vocabulary. Use them with caution.

It’s easy to say “I never lie to my kids.”  “I always tell the truth.”

To turn a phrase that’s popular nowadays … but do ya though?

I’m not talkin’ about the big stuff. I’m talkin’ about the little ones nobody thinks about. They add up. How many times—honestly (ha, see what I did there)—has someone asked if “fill in the blank” looks, smells, or tastes good, and the real answer is not what came out of your pie-hole? Not because you needed the heat from your pants bein’ on fire. Because you wanted to save the feelings of the person asking.

And that’s not even gettin’ into raisin’ kids, where they ask things they’re years away from bein’ able to carry a full answer for.

We prayed about this a lot. We didn’t want our son findin’ out later that Mom and Dad were playin’ fast and loose with the truth. And we didn’t want him growin’ up on a line we heard a ton: “You’ll know when you’re older.”

What got me thinkin’ about this was Sunday School yesterday. Mark 10:17. The rich man tryin’ to figure out how to get to heaven. That story has layers, and we peeled through them.

Teachin’ the same lesson to a 15-year-old is different than a 12-year-old, different than a 9-year-old, different than a 22- or 40-year-old. Same lesson. Different life sittin’ in the chair. Different layers God can put His hand on—for the teacher and the student.

A 6-year-old can hold “love God above all.”

A 15-year-old starts to feel how many things are yankin’ on their time. God isn’t sayin’ those demands aren’t real. He’s sayin’ the more of them you have, the harder it is to stay locked on what is real. Enjoy the other things. Just don’t let them climb into first place. You still have to want the focus.

That second part simply isn’t in the cards for a 6-year-old. Keepin’ God in focus is.

Jesus did the same thing when they tried to trip Him on the Law. He didn’t throw any of the Ten away. He wrapped them into two: love God, love your neighbor. True now. Deeper later.

Just a thought from a guy still learnin’ from the folks God keeps puttin’ in the path.

Bible Verses

Matthew 22:34-40 / Mark 10:17-31

Questions

How do you handle it when someone asks you an uncomfortable question ???