KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Unconditional
TWO-YEAR-OLD Samantha is a doll...
Her smile brightens the room. Her big, brown eyes sparkle with life. Samantha was visiting her grandparents for the holidays. One afternoon she was tottering through the house with her "sippy cup" in hand. Those of you with young children know that a sippy cup doesn't leak...unless, of course, it's held upside-down! As you might guess, without realizing it, Samantha trailed red kool-aid throughout her grandparents house. The bright, red, sticky stains were especially evident on the tan carpet. When her grandmother discovered the trail, needless to say, she wasn't exactly "tickled." Question: Did grandmother stop loving Samantha because of speckled carpet? Of course not. Why? Because the child was more important than floor covering.
THOUGHT: Some of us need to learn that lesson. Unconditional love says, "I love you" -- period. It says people are more important than things. It says relationships are more important than objects. It says red kool-aid can be cleaned up, but two-year-old hearts are too precious to be broken. I'm thankful grandmothers, like Samantha's, who knew this. (Mike Benson)
KneEmail: "Love suffers long and is kind, love...is not provoked, [it] bears all things...endures all things" (1 Cor. 13:4, 5, 7)...even red kool-aid.