Mine, Yours, Ours

When I grew up, things were always organized into 'my things' and 'my brother's things'. Still today, I can refer to things as mine (or other's). One day, the Hubby pointed that out and I felt convicted!

That little remark changed my entire thinking of ownership!

I needed the rethink what I was teaching the kids and how I wanted my marriage to work. After all, when two people come together to be one, that also means to share everything that was brought into the marriage and obviously, all the things that have been added since. It's ours!

So I had to teach myself to think as 'WE' - and then I had to reteach our kids, that we are one family and that all things belong to the family. To think again, we are just using it as a family, because all things come from God and so belong to God - really, we are just borrowing it from Him.

To take it a step farther, all the possessions of this earth are on temporary loan anyways. The bible teaches in Matthew 6:19-21 to "not store up for yourselves treasures on earth... But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So when we are 'renting' all those possessions from God, we need to share them with the people around us (Hebrews 13: 16), because "those sacrifices are pleasing to God".

Today, we are a sharing family.

I am so glad for that little comment and that I took the challenge to change.
The kids don't fight that much anymore. And I don't have to be a constant referee! They enjoy playing with each other, with their toys, and sharing with friends. And when they do start fighting, I just have to remind them that all things belong to God, hence we need to share them.

As a teaching tool, I used the story of Job. The story is about suffering but what I wanted my kids to hear was the verse where it says that God gives and that He takes away (Job 1:21) - we are blessed no matter what. We need to praise Him under any circumstance.
 The other point that I want them to understand is that God doesn't like fighting. We are to share His love with one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). When we share love, we practice the fruits of the spirit, too. Love is not just a word, it's an action. Fighting and arguing is the opposite of love, so I want to teach them how to resolve arguments in a loving way that pleases God (yes, and us as parents!).