Words of Hope: A + B = C
In math, A + B normally should equal C. In life, the same should happen. A loving home will produce loving kids. However, this is not always the case. Dad and I often talked about the psychological and spiritual formula when A + B does not equal C. This happens too often. A father who seems super loving and godly has children who can’t stand him and don’t respect him. This would be an example of when A + B does not equal C. Dad understood that most people look in the wrong direction, they look at the children and say, “How sad such a seemingly loving father has such terrible children.” But life does not work that way. What you plant in the ground will be what you reap. It is a principle of life that is Biblically sound. What we sow, we reap. If we sow apples, we will reap apples. When A + B does not equal C this means something other than what people are publicly presenting was sown in secret.
Shirley Glass in her book Not Just Friends, would share how a man (or woman) will profess their deep love for their spouse, they will swear passionately they are loyal, but the fruit of their life reveals a hiddenness. When confronted, they say, “NO! No way,” only to be caught a few weeks later having had multiple affairs over many years.
This is a humbling principle in my life. If I say I love my children, but they are easily exasperated or frustrated by me, something doesn’t add up. What is the fruit? If the fruit is love, the seeds are love. If the fruit is frustration, the seeds are frustration.
I am so thankful to Dad and Mom for instilling this powerful psychological and spiritual truth. I can look at the fruit and understand what was sown. I can ask God to help me sow beauty instead of ugliness, compassion instead of strife, truth instead of hypocrisy, loyalty instead of selfishness. As I look at the fruit of my relationships, what seeds do I find I have sown?
“A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
-Galatians 6: 8-9
