Luke 17:1 “It is impossible that no offenses should come.” The other night, I overheard Elaine having an interesting conversation and later found out it was with Esther Wojcicki, the author of “How to Raise Successful People.” In addition to being an award winning educator, Esther has also raised three really successful people. Janet is a Fulbright-winning anthropologist, Anne co-founded 23andMe and Susan currently serves as CEO of Youtube. As if she hadn’t done enough, at the age of 80 Esther started a peer to peer edutainment app called Tract, and given her credentials I thought it’d be worth trying out with the boys. We logged in and watched a video on prehistoric sea creatures, at the end of which, the host asked viewers who would win in a showdown, the megalodon or the giant mosasaur. Kyan chose the megalodon, while Luke chose the mosasaur, and they both vehemently defended their positions. The ensuing debate led to raised voices, insults hurled and tears shed as Kyan drove Luke to start sobbing. I sat the boys down and explained to them that we are designed to be in communion with each other. Loving each other means treating each other as an extension of ourselves, and when we work together in that state we are so much more powerful. A cord of three strands is not easily broken. “You guys have a lot of complementary skills that can help each other with your next startup. And you’re going to use that for the Kingdom, so of course the enemy wants to split you apart. There’s a great author named John Bevere who talks about this in his book The Bait of Satan. The enemy often splits us apart by sparking the spirit of offense. It’s bound to happen, but the key is how we react to it. Perhaps this time Kyan you could have been a bit more gentle in your words, and Luke remember that if you remember God loves you, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says.” They nodded and agreed. But they still disagreed about the prehistoric sea battle. Lord, thank you that you give us the tools to rise above the spirit of offense. True love conquers all. And if we’re filled with your love then we can not help but be united with those around us. Thank you for the reminder that truly successful people are defined by love, not by the world. In your son’s name, Amen.
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