Competition in our house is a daily event. Mr 6 and Miss 4 turn everything into a race - who can eat fastest, get to the car quickest, get dressed first, be at the front waiting first. You get the picture. I find it extremely irritating! There are always little people racing around trying to beat each other and be the winner, be the best.
So, in a moment of exasperation the other day as they both pushed their way into the house and raced down the hall, I blithely made a comment that Jesus said that "the last will be first and the first will be last".
Fast forward a few days, and everyone is out of the bath and supposed to be getting dressed. They are both taking forever, for no reason. I finally told Mr 6 to finish up and go brush his teeth, which he did. Miss 4's voice chimed in behind me "I'm first then, because I'm last"
The penny dropped! All of a sudden I realised why things had been a bit slower of late - they were both trying to 'win' by being last.
So, we talked about how Jesus wasn't telling people to be slow so they would win, he was talking about serving other people, taking care of them, showing kindness to them and making themselves less important for other people.
What was my lesson in all of this? If I am going to quote the words of Jesus to my children, I had better also take the time to explain them!
Had to laugh when I read this post Wendy. We have the daily 6yo verses 4yo competition too. So much so that my nearly 2yo has started saying 'first' when she gets there before the other two! I have been talking about serving others with them and sometimes it goes in, even just a little bit.
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