Loving Our Spiritual Siblings

When Molly was in fourth grade, I would go to her school once a week to have lunch with her. The friend she often chose to sit with us at the parent table—her best friend at the time—would often ask me the same question.

“Are Lilly and Molly sisters?”

Patiently I would explain that my daughters were born at different times and in different places in China, but they are sisters now. My words seemed to satisfy her, at least until the next time I came for lunch.

The fact of the matter is that Lilly and Molly are sisters because they have the same set of parents—me and Randy. They did nothing to become sisters. But because we adopted both of them, that’s what they are.

I don’t think about the fact that my daughters are adopted very often. This is the only path toward parenthood that I’ve experienced, and I can’t imagine my family any other way.

I know the scriptures contain weighty spiritual metaphors relating to adoption, but I don’t feel like I have any greater insight into how all that works because I am an adoptive mom. How God chooses and calls the children who end up in His family is largely a mystery to me.

I do know this, however. We are God’s children because He is our Father. Not because of anything we did or anything we brought to the relationship. He adopted us into His family because He loved us first.

Randy and I did a lot to get Lilly and Molly—filled out piles of paperwork, paid many fees, spent years waiting. But God did exponentially more to provide a way for us to become His children.

When we accept His free gift of salvation, available to us through Jesus’ death on the cross, we become part of His eternal family. But, like Lilly and Molly when they joined our family, we don’t get to choose our spiritual siblings.

My girls have always been close, but they go through their cantankerous phases. When they’re busy pushing each others buttons, getting annoyed at each other, or just not being very kind, I have a simple response.

“Be nice to each your sister,” I’ll say. “She’s the only one you have.”

Perhaps there’s a spiritual analogy here as well. We may prefer not to admit this, but as Christians, we sometimes go through phases where we don’t like each other very much. We may disagree with each other, annoy each other or judge each other unfairly.

We may be as different from our fellow believers as my daughters are from each other. We may think we have absolutely nothing in common (apart from the gift of grace we’ve all received), and maybe we are right.

But our heavenly Father still calls us to be patient with each other. To be kind to one another. To look out for each other’s best interests, even ahead of our own.

This is how people know we are His children—by the way we love our brothers and sisters.

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with Purposeful Faith, Coffee for Your Heart, Faith on Fire, Fresh Market Friday, Faith ‘n Friends and Grace & Truth.