One thing that becomes clear in the gospels is that Jesus was not “sweet.” Always loving, yes, but not sweet. Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple was a loving thing to do — calling people back to authentic worship — but no one would call that a “sweet” action. Any parent can testify that the loving thing is often not sweet. Love sometimes is tough. The loving thing, which is to say the thing that will help your child grow up filled with grace, requires some pain and challenge. As Dostoyevsky put it: “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”
MAY272016
By Church Staff
