1John 4:20-21"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen. (21) And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also."
Sibling relationships are interesting to behold. As a mother, I watch my children interact with one another and at times it gets a little hairy, but at other times they knock my socks off by their kindness toward one another. My husband and I are working very diligently to encourage the children to have good and edifying relationships with one another because according to the above scripture, they need to have love for one another. There are some days we go to bed wondering if we had accomplished that or if we could have done or said something else to bring them closer.
One thing I always try to do is to have them pray for one another. When they pray for each other, for good, lovely and pure things, the bad feelings, hurt feelings, possibly ill will, pretty much dissipate.
I know that for myself, when I pray for my own siblings, I pray for good, lovely and pure things on their behalf. That doesn't mean that relationships get healed or anything like that. It just means that it helps me in my own spirit to pray for all things lovely, pure and good on their behalf. When you, yourself, pray for someone where the relationship is strained and all you're wanting for them is for God's goodness to be upon them, there is a healing and a peace that engulfs your whole spirit. It is such a peaceful, wonderful time to spend with God, in spite of a strained relationship, to look upon your siblings with love through prayerful petition.
Sibling relationships are interesting to behold. As a mother, I watch my children interact with one another and at times it gets a little hairy, but at other times they knock my socks off by their kindness toward one another. My husband and I are working very diligently to encourage the children to have good and edifying relationships with one another because according to the above scripture, they need to have love for one another. There are some days we go to bed wondering if we had accomplished that or if we could have done or said something else to bring them closer.
One thing I always try to do is to have them pray for one another. When they pray for each other, for good, lovely and pure things, the bad feelings, hurt feelings, possibly ill will, pretty much dissipate.
I know that for myself, when I pray for my own siblings, I pray for good, lovely and pure things on their behalf. That doesn't mean that relationships get healed or anything like that. It just means that it helps me in my own spirit to pray for all things lovely, pure and good on their behalf. When you, yourself, pray for someone where the relationship is strained and all you're wanting for them is for God's goodness to be upon them, there is a healing and a peace that engulfs your whole spirit. It is such a peaceful, wonderful time to spend with God, in spite of a strained relationship, to look upon your siblings with love through prayerful petition.
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