Certainly one of the most common topics we are asked to speak on is sibling rivalry or as we like to put it sibling affection. Unfortunately most people assume that siblings will fight, after all that's what brothers and sisters do, right? We will spend more time talking about this subject in the future. Today, I want to give you a couple of tips to get us started. First, don't confuse average with normal. In other words just because sibling rivalry is average doesn't make it normal by God's standards. We believe God placed us in families on purpose. We believe the "love one anothers" begin in our home. Why would God ask us to be kind to our neighbor and to the clerk at the grocery store and not expect us to be nice to our brother and our sister? Don't buy into the lie that brothers and sisters can't get along. It's just not true!

When it comes to sibling relationships first things first - do no harm. Yes, the Hippocratic oath applies to more than just medicine. You can't expect your kid's relationship as adults to be great if they spend the first ten years of their life verbally and physically abusing each other. When your kids are very young don't allow them to be mean to each other. Don't write off teasing and sarcasm as "normal" sibling interaction. Expect them to be nice to each other at an early age then continue that right into their teen years. They can learn to be mean and cruel to each other or they can learn to love and honor each other. I don't know about you, but my vote is to have brothers and sisters that are for each other, that love each other and honor and serve one another.