Oct 28 - Psalm 7:11a

God is a judge

who is perfectly fair.

Psalm 7:11a

"That's not fair" is one the greatest cries of childhood.

Brothers and sisters look at one another and often measure their parents' “love” based on equality.

But is equality really the best measure of fairness?

My son Paul is a professional musician. He excelled at the piano and then the organ. We encouraged him by paying for lessons and taking him to competitions.

Jay is also musical. So would equality be what was fair for Jay too? Piano lessons and organ competitions? No. Fair for Jay was bag pipe lessons. (And his bag piping has paid for trips across America and to several foreign countries. In fact, recently, his XO even had him play them from the bow of his Navy ship when they docked in Scotland!)

Would equality have been fair for my boys? And what about Robbie? Should we have given him organ lessons, should we have dressed him in a bag piping kilt? No. We helped him get a classic car and let him tinker!

Fair is nurturing each person's gifts passionately, but uniquely.

Fair is encouraging and challenging and pushing each child deliberately, but uniquely.

Fair is putting each child in situations where they will stretch and grow ... sometimes whether they want to do it or not! Indeed, as long as we are ultimately keeping them safe, we need to consistently teach them that life is not about their personal preferences and desires. It's about responsibility. It's about lifting the needs of others and the praise of God above self.

Fair is also being judged for our actions. Virtually all our sin boils down to selfishness. We value our wants and desires more than we value our parents' wisdom (including our heavenly Father's wisdom). In a rebellious lack of trust, we reject our heavenly Father's and our earthly mother's ability to provide, thinking that we know better what we really need.

God must judge our rebellion. And it is fair. And it is loving. He wants us to grow. He wants us to thrive. He wants us to play organs in cathedrals, pipe from the bridge of Navy ships, tinker on classic Mustangs, worship him in faith, serve our neighbor, and fulfill destinies higher than we can ever hope for our children or ourselves.

And what is not fair is not judging, not challenging, not pushing, not calling us to standard as high as heaven.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who learns

a lot about God

by raising kids