“I Love You Both Equally”

I have a twin brother.  When we were little, I remember my mom telling us that she loved us both equally.  We would draw something and ask her “whose is better” and she of course would say “I love them both as much.”  One day I wrote something both with my right hand and my left hand and asked my mom “which one looks neater.” Probably thinking it was one of our tricks, she said “they both look great to me.” Come on!!

My parents had it down to a science.  They made sure we were treated equally.  They even probably spent more time making sure this happened than anything. They made sure our gifts at birthdays and Christmas totaled the same and I even think one year she showed us the receipts to prove it!

I think this is really key for parenting.  There are examples in the Old Testament that would attest to this as well.  Isaac loved Esau more, but his wife Rebekah loved Jacob more.  They were twins.  Rebekah helped Jacob steal Esau’s blessing and inheritance and so in return Esau went out and married women from the land that Isaac said not to.  Esau became the father of a great nation, the Edomites.  The history of the Edomites is quite fascinating in that they were forever rivals of the Israel (Jacob) lineage, and in fact, it is said that the Herods of the New Testament, who tried to kill Jesus, were of Edomite stock.

Parents, the task of making sure every one of your kids is loved equally is not as easy as it sounds, but it is an important one.  Even more would be to make sure your child’s perception is that everyone is loved equally.  So I have to ask myself and I’ll ask you, “how have you been doing”? Either way, tell your kids you love them.