The things siblings do …

One of my seven older sisters is only 10 months older than me. Because we were so close in age, we were close as kids.

That’s not to say we didn’t have our sibling spats.

For example, I learned when my sister wasn’t in a playful mood that I could lean over and barely touch her with the tip of my finger and she would (with great dramatic flare) recoil, twist her face into a commanding expression, and demand in a halting voice, “Don’t … you … touch … me!”

I thought her reaction was hilarious! Which meant I would continue to do it until our mother intervened and told me to leave my sister alone.

I provoked her in order to get the lively reaction for my entertainment.

It wasn’t a nice thing to do.

We shouldn’t provoke each other in such a negative way. Even the Bible teaches us that:

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another,” Galatians 5:25-26.

But it also tells us we should provoke (or motivate) one another, yet in a very different way:

“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works,” Hebrews 10:24.

When you come together as the body of Christ, how do you provoke (or motivate) one another in this way?

Or do you?

Scotty