I Remember My Older Brother Bringing My Mom A ...

I remember my older brother bringing my mom a flower. I’m sure it was a very pretty flower, but it had been picked from the flower bed of a lady that lived Joe’s route home from school. Very wisely, my mom did not accept the flower, but walked Joe back to the lady’s house and made him give it back and apologize. The lady was very gracious and kind about it and tried to say it was OK, but mom would not allow it.

Parents often try to take the heat off their kids. When the kids do something wrong, the parent, in a passion of misplaced defensiveness or over-protectiveness does not allow the son or daughter to assume the responsibility for their actions. But the time to teach responsibility is when the child is small enough that their mistakes do not cost more than embarrassment and or a few pennies. When the responsibility measures in larger injuries and penalties, the effective time to learn the lesson is past.

As adults we often try to escape responsibility, but

• The laxness of our own self-discipline

• The irresponsibility of our financial practices

• Our overindulgence in luxuries

• The neglect of important relationships

• Our substance abuses

All carry natural and spiritual consequences, just as David’s sin did. David could not expect someone else’s investment and someone else’s humility to solve the problem.