In the past, my parenting has had to endure particularly difficult seasons of discipline. I remember the days when, usually multiple times a day, I\u2019d dispense consequences for bad behavior. These were then met with responses of total shock and horror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t do anything!\u201d
\u201cI didn\u2019t know!\u201d
\u201cI didn\u2019t hear you!\u201d
\u201cBut his face ran into my fist!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like generations of children before them\u2014including myself!\u2014my kids are gifted at playing the martyr. Rather than repent and ask forgiveness, they make excuses. And sometimes, they dig in their heels even deeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here in this story of the very first murder, we see that blame-shifting has always been there. And it all started very innocently. Two competitive brothers\u2014one a farmer, one a shepherd\u2014brought offerings to God. Cain brought the fruits of his soil, and Abel brought fat portions from the firstborn of his flock (Genesis 4:3\u20134). At first glance, it would appear that each brother brought what he had, but God did not see it this way. God looked with favor on Abel\u2019s offering, but he withheld favor from Cain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In their commentary on this passage, Tremper Longman and Scot McKnight explain the difference in their gifts: \u201cCain offered the ordinary and Abel the best, and of course the quality of their offering reflects the condition of their hearts. Abel is enthusiastic about worship, while Cain is basically disinterested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cain was caught doing the bare minimum, but rather than humble himself, admit his spiritual apathy, and ask how he can do better, Cain dug in. He became angry. He threw a pity party. He nursed his bitterness until it culminated in murder, and even after all that he continued to play the victim: \u201cMy punishment is too great to bear\u201d (v.13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In these early chapters of Genesis, we are learning about the ways of God, but we are also learning about the ways of sin. Here we observe a major hallmark. Sin so utterly twists the human heart that it will even deny its brokenness. It will run, hide, make excuses, and lash out before taking responsibility and repenting. But we need to know something important about ourselves. When accountability comes our way, even if it comes harshly or imperfectly, our response determines the course of our lives. How we respond to sin sets our feet on one of two paths: back to God or further away from Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But here is what else this story reminds us: sometimes we are the ones being confronted, and sometimes we are the ones doing the confronting. Sometimes, we bring truth to light, and then, just like God does in this story, we have to watch as a heart hardens more. This, we must remember, is not about human finiteness or our basic shortcomings or how we could have said something better. It\u2019s about the sin that separates and what it does to the human heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thankfully, we have something that Cain didn\u2019t have: the Holy Spirit. Through the gift of God\u2019s Son, Jesus Christ, we have a helper and an advocate who is ready to work when repentance feels too hard. That is how good God is\u2014even as He asks us to be faithful, He helps us to do it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the past, my parenting has had to endure particularly difficult seasons of discipline. I remember the days when, usually multiple times a day, I\u2019d dispense consequences for bad behavior. These were then met with responses of total shock and horror. \u201cI didn\u2019t do anything!\u201d\u201cI didn\u2019t know!\u201d\u201cI didn\u2019t hear you!\u201d\u201cBut his face ran into my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":71765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genesis25"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[71878],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"She Reads Truth","devotional_text":"CAIN AND ABEL<\/b>
\r\nby Sharon Hodde Miller<\/i>
\r\n
In the past, my parenting has had to endure particularly difficult seasons of discipline. I remember the days when, usually multiple times a day, I\u2019d dispense consequences for bad behavior. These were then met with responses of total shock and horror.<\/p>
\r\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t do anything!\u201d
\r\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know!\u201d
\r\n\u201cI didn\u2019t hear you!\u201d
\r\n\u201cBut his face ran into my fist!\u201d<\/p>
\r\n
Like generations of children before them\u2014including myself!\u2014my kids are gifted at playing the martyr. Rather than repent and ask forgiveness, they make excuses. And sometimes, they dig in their heels even deeper.<\/p>
\r\n
Here in this story of the very first murder, we see that blame-shifting has always been there. And it all started very innocently. Two competitive brothers\u2014one a farmer, one a shepherd\u2014brought offerings to God. Cain brought the fruits of his soil, and Abel brought fat portions from the firstborn of his flock (Genesis 4:3\u20134). At first glance, it would appear that each brother brought what he had, but God did not see it this way. God looked with favor on Abel\u2019s offering, but he withheld favor from Cain.
\r\n
Why?<\/p>
\r\n
In their commentary on this passage, Tremper Longman and Scot McKnight explain the difference in their gifts: \u201cCain offered the ordinary and Abel the best, and of course the quality of their offering reflects the condition of their hearts. Abel is enthusiastic about worship, while Cain is basically disinterested.\u201d<\/p>
\r\n
Cain was caught doing the bare minimum, but rather than humble himself, admit his spiritual apathy, and ask how he can do better, Cain dug in. He became angry. He threw a pity party. He nursed his bitterness until it culminated in murder, and even after all that he continued to play the victim: \u201cMy punishment is too great to bear\u201d (v.13).<\/p>
\r\n
In these early chapters of Genesis, we are learning about the ways of God, but we are also learning about the ways of sin. Here we observe a major hallmark. Sin so utterly twists the human heart that it will even deny its brokenness. It will run, hide, make excuses, and lash out before taking responsibility and repenting. But we need to know something important about ourselves. When accountability comes our way, even if it comes harshly or imperfectly, our response determines the course of our lives. How we respond to sin sets our feet on one of two paths: back to God or further away from Him.<\/p>
\r\n
But here is what else this story reminds us: sometimes we are the ones being confronted, and sometimes we are the ones doing the confronting. Sometimes, we bring truth to light, and then, just like God does in this story, we have to watch as a heart hardens more. This, we must remember, is not about human finiteness or our basic shortcomings or how we could have said something better. It\u2019s about the sin that separates and what it does to the human heart.<\/p>
\r\n
Thankfully, we have something that Cain didn\u2019t have: the Holy Spirit. Through the gift of God\u2019s Son, Jesus Christ, we have a helper and an advocate who is ready to work when repentance feels too hard. That is how good God is\u2014even as He asks us to be faithful, He helps us to do it.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"3","scripture":"Genesis 4:1-26, Genesis 5:1-32, Hebrews 11:4, Hebrews 12:22-24","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}