We were walking through the mall one day, and I heard Elizabeth say to Joshua, “Look left.” He promptly complied and a few seconds later, she simply said, “OK, you can look now.”
Being a mom, my natural response was, “What was that about?” Elizabeth turned around and pointed to a poster in the mall that had a picture of a scantily clad female. She explained that she was trying to protect her brother’s eyes.
Ummmm. Wow! At the time, she was about 13, which made him about 15.
I pulled two lessons from this moment. She loved him enough to want to protect him from sin. He loved her enough to trust her when she asked him to do something.
I don’t know how this started. I know it wasn’t the first time because there was no questioning, no confusion. She didn’t raise her voice or try to cover his eyes. She simply told him to look away and he did.
At her young age, she was already aware of the challenges her brother might face in his Christian walk. Rather than stand by silently and hope for the best, she spoke up. She helped him guard his eyes, which also protected his heart.
As a mom, I want nothing more than to protect my children. How much more precious is it when they also choose to protect one another.
That day, they both chose to heed the scriptures that they had been taught.
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” Psalm 1:1
Joshua chose to accept godly counsel from his younger sister. Not typical, not the norm, definitely not the example set by society.
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 11:2
Instead of being prideful, Joshua chose humility, which led to the wisdom to trust those who only had his best interests at heart.
But Joshua wasn’t the only one following scripture. It couldn’t have been easy for Elizabeth to say those words to him. She had to consider his reaction. What if he laughed or her or ridiculed her? Instead of worrying about what he did, she concerned herself with only doing the right thing.
“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18
Elizabeth used her actions to demonstrate her love for Joshua as we walked through that mall. She dared to speak out in love.
God must have been beaming with pride as he watched two of his young children treat one another with such love.
It’s a little trickier with adults. Our pride often gets in the way. Learning to live with humility isn’t easy. And I certainly don’t enjoy being corrected.
If we are truly living with our eyes on the cross, then we must become like little children. It won’t happen by accident. It takes prayer and an intentional swallowing of our natural tendencies. But the blessings that come will be worth it.
We can learn a lot from the little ones. My prayer today is that we can become more like them in the way we treat one another.
With Eyes on the Cross 