TLEE's Daily Devotion for May {11,837 words}

During Jesus’ days, there were three main religious groups. The Pharisees, who were very pious and also the largest religious group of that time, believed in God, in the supernatural, and in angels. They accepted foreordination, immortality, future rewards, punishment, the resurrection of the dead, and future judgment. They looked for the Messiah, and they believed in both the written and the oral law. They thought that God had given additional laws to those that Moses had recorded and that their job was to explain them. The Sadducees, who were usually the aristocrats of their day, denied the oral laws or traditions of the Pharisees, and they rejected the resurrection of the dead. But they did not know much about the Bible. The Essenes lived in communes by the Red Sea. They were not mentioned in the New Testament, but Josephus included them in his writings. Their important contribution was the production of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They did not care about money, worldly things, or anything like that, so they simply separated themselves from society.

Like much of the Book of Proverbs, Proverbs 8:14-21 teaches about the importance of gaining godly wisdom and understanding. Adults benefit greatly when they recognize the importance of seeking God first and of gaining the above traits. Having a good understanding of the Lord will keep a person on the straight and narrow and out of trouble, and an individual can acquire that kind of understanding through several ways. First, living right will lead to godly understanding. Second, obeying the teachings of the Bible will complement a person's desire to live right and enhance his or her understanding. Psalm 111:10 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise." Third, seeking God with all of one's heart, mind, and soul will also increase the person's understanding.

In I Corinthians 10:18-33, I Corinthians 8:9-13, Romans 14:13-23, and II Corinthians 6:14-15, the Apostle Paul presented some general New Testament principles that all Christians should apply to their lives. In I Corinthians 10:18-33, he wrote about eating meats that had been offered to idols. People sometimes think that a particular behavior is all right if the Bible does not explicitly speak against it, but Paul did not agree. In all instances, he said that Christians should live for the Lord and for others, in love, rather than for themselves. He said that their lives should encourage others to receive Christ as Savior rather than to drive them away.

In I Corinthians 8:9-13 and Romans 14:13-23, concerning whether or not Christians should even eat meat, Paul provided the litmus test for all Christians by telling them to not live lives that could become spiritual stumbling blocks for weaker Christians. He wrote that Christians have complete freedom concerning everything, but he did not tell them to use their freedom to live carefree, promiscuous lifestyles. Instead, he emphasized that showing a godly love for others could mean giving up certain behaviors even though the Bible does not explicitly speak against them. And in I Corinthians 8:13, he backed up his conviction when he wrote, "Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall."

Freedom is important, and Romans 8:1-17 teaches that Christians are free from the Law, free from sin's control over their life, free from death, and that they can be free from fear. An important Old Testament parallel to a life in sin is the nation, Israel, as it existed in bondage to Egypt. In the same way that that whole nation had had to submit to their hard taskmaster, the person still under the condemnation of the Law is in servitude, too, only not to a nation like Egypt but to the very power of sin, itself.

In Romans 8:8-17, the Apostle Paul wrote that each person can be set free from death and fear. Many people view death as a termination of life. But when the Bible speaks of someone as being dead in his or her sins, it is actually teaching that the individual is "separated" from his or her heavenly Father. Spiritual death is separation from God. Physical death is separation from the earth. But neither of those deaths is a termination of existence. They are simply changes in position. In Christ Jesus and through His finished work on Calvary, as is taught in Romans 8:1-7, each person can have victory over his or her separation from God and, then, be prepared for when they are physically separated from the earth. Through Him and because of Him, each person can be restored to fellowship with God and, then, have the confidence that comes from having a personal relationship with Him. By having that confidence, the saved "sinner" can experience freedom from death and fear.

When trying to interpret a particular passage in the Old Testament, a person should try to identify the author's original meaning or purpose for writing the passage. He or she should practice exegesis, which means to draw the meaning from the text, rather than isogesis, which means to put meaning into the text. Understanding what the Bible actually says is far more important than trying to make the Bible say what one wants it to say. Next, the person should look for the word pictures that are used and also note the genre or type of text under consideration. Word pictures provide extra meaning through illustrations, and genre determines how the particular text should be treated. One does not use the same rules of interpretation for the Book of Proverbs as for the Book of Revelation.

To be successful, a local church must have sound goals and objectives, and those goals and objectives should involve evangelism, the baptism of new converts, and teaching. The church's primary objective should be to carry out the Great Commission, and to do that, it must have a spiritual vision. The first part of Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."

To be evangelical, the church should see first, farthest, and most. It should see the spiritual needs of its community "first," which means before anything else, and it should be ready to act on those needs. It should see "far" into the future with the idea of growing a church and a community that will be glorifying to God, and it should have a passion to reach all or "most" of the people in its community. The church must have compassion and be caring. It should reach out to others and be a motivator for those that attend. The church should present the gospel, and it should have a testimony concerning what it has seen of Christ, what it has heard about Him, and what it has experienced. An important goal for any local church should be to communicate enough of the gospel, in an understanding and motivating manner, for others to be saved. A second goal should be to persuade others to receive Jesus as Savior because people do not naturally come to Him. The human heart is often suspicious, so many times, people need to be encouraged and persuaded.

All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and the Word of God is without error. But every reader of the Bible needs to understand that the King James Version, the New International Version, and the many other versions of the Bible are all only translations of copies of the original. They are, in most cases, very, very accurate, but they are not exact. In some cases, scribes may have relied on less reliable manuscripts. In some very, very rare cases, a scribe might not have copied the original manuscript exactly right. The original texts were written in all capital letters, without any vowels, and without any punctuation, so understanding exactly what the author had intended in every case would have been very difficult. A word like "WSH" could have meant "wash" or "wish," so the scribe would have needed to decide which word better fit into the context. Over time, they developed a process called "pointing," and that meant that they wrote the assumed vowels over and under the text for better understanding and easier copying.

The Hebrew name for God, Elohim, appears two thousand three hundred and forty-six times in the Old Testament and means strong, great, mighty, and one to be feared or reverenced. Elohim was used in the first two chapters of Genesis when Moses was writing about Creation. Elohim was used in Genesis, Chapter Six, when Moses was writing about Noah and the Flood. When God and Abraham were discussing their covenant and the giving of a son to Abraham in Genesis, Chapter Seventeen, Moses used the name Elohim. In Exodus 3:4, Elohim spoke to Moses from the burning bush prior to telling him to return to Egypt. Lastly, Elohim was the name associated with Elijah on Mount Carmel in I Kings, Chapter Eighteen, when the prophet successfully challenged the prophets of Baal.

Proverbs 8:22-29 spoke about the eternality of wisdom and showed how wisdom can point a person towards true happiness. Everyone wants to be happy, but many people try to find happiness and satisfaction in the wrong ways. Having great possessions or tremendous wealth is not one of the keys to being happy. Living a wild, pleasure-filled, hedonistic existence is also not one of the keys to being happy. According to the above passage, the only true way to be happy is to have the Lord's touch upon one's life. That touch begins with salvation, when the sinner repents of his or her sins and comes to Jesus in faith. After that, a person continues on the path to happiness by studying the Bible. When the Holy Spirit-indwelled heart encounters the true teachings of the Scriptures, then the soul comes alive and begins to understand what it truly means to be free in Christ. Being rightly related to the Lord and following in His steps are sure ways to have maximum joy and peace in this life.

Ephesians 6:1-4, Genesis 47:1-10, Esther 2:7-11, and Proverbs 31:26-29 teach a person how to have the right kind of godly family. Ephesians 6:1-4 says that parents and children owe each other love and respect. Children should listen attentively to their parents and respond positively to their instructions, and they should even do those things to some extent after they are grown and physically separated from the home. Older grown children should be concerned about their aged parent's welfare, and they should try to make their parent's final years meaningful and happy. While the kids are young and still at home, the parents should not provoke them to wrath. Many homes in today's society are like miniature battlefields. But instead of raising their children in that kind of atmosphere, parents should try to create a nurturing environment where their children can develop naturally and learn about the Lord.

In I Corinthians 12:1-12, I Corinthians 12:27-31, Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:11-13, and I Peter 4:10-11, the Bible identifies the Holy Spirit as the Source of spiritual gifts. Those passages describe how one can identify his or her spiritual gifts and, then, how the person can use their gifts for the right works and in the right spirit. When an individual acknowledges the Lord as his or her Savior and accepts His finished work on Calvary, the first step of the spiritual process is that the Holy Spirit indwells the person. No one can explain the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But it still happens, and it is still gives assurance to those that are in Christ. Once the person is in Him and He is in the person, then the Holy Spirit prepares the individual for work in God's Kingdom. The Holy Spirit is the perfect Teacher, and He teaches Christians about the Lord. He also uses individuals as witnesses and ministers to others, and He gives them unique talents and ways to use those talents for Him.

The literary expression "book ending" is also called an inclusion. Book endings or inclusions begin and end passages or verses with the same words or the same expression, and like real bookends, they hold things together. While in the middle of such a passage, the reader will automatically be influenced by the book ending, if one is used. For example, if someone says, "Richard is undisciplined and full of bad habits with no intention to change. He drinks, curses, smokes, is unfaithful to his wife, and cheats on his taxes. Richard is undisciplined and full of bad habits with no intention to change." That message communicates a totally different meaning than if the person says, "Richard is a new Christian, and he is having trouble changing his old ways. He drinks, curses, smokes, is unfaithful to his wife, and cheats on his taxes. Richard is a new Christian, and he is having trouble changing his old ways."

On the final day of the Feast of Tabernacles, during a conversation with some Jews and Pharisees, Jesus spoke the words recorded in John 7:38-39. He was in the third year of His ministry, and the point of His remarks was to tell them about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come, but He was telling them that, in a short time, He would. When that would happen, then those that had and would believe on Jesus would be indwelled by the Spirit. The theological teaching, which describes the coming of the Holy Spirit to abide in the hearts of Christians, is called procession.

Dr. Charles Ryrie wrote, "Procession is a term which has been used by theologians to try to describe the relationship between the Spirit and the other Persons of the Trinity." John 15:26 says, "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me." Initially, many believed that the Father alone had sent and was sending the Holy Spirit. But because John 15:26 also says that the Son would be involved with the Father in sending the Spirit, the teaching was expanded to more accurately include the Son. In 589 AD, the Synod of Toledo officially attributed the procession of the Holy Spirit as being from both the Father and from the Son.

The Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John. He was Jewish, he knew about the Jewish feasts, and he was a contemporary to the events about which he was writing. In John 18:10, he even named the man whose right ear was cut off. He had been there when it happened, so he knew that the victim was Malchus and that Peter had been the person with the sword. The entire Gospel of John only covered about twenty days in Christ’s life, and the final ten chapters were devoted exclusively to His final week on earth.

In John 13:23, John 20:2, and John 21:20, John referred to the one "whom Jesus loved," but he did not identify that individual by name. Jesus’ inner circle, based on Matthew 17:1, Mark 5:37, and Mark 14:33, consisted of Peter, James, and John, so the person that Jesus loved was most likely one of those three. In John 21:20, Peter talked to Jesus about the disciple whom He loved, so that meant that Peter was not the one. In Acts 12:2, James was martyred shortly after Pentecost, so that meant that he was probably not the one, either. The Apostle John is the only disciple not said to have been martyred. He lived to an old age, and from the cross, Jesus even chose him to be the new son of His mother, Mary. Lastly, John was given the vision of the last days that led him to write the Book of Revelation. Therefore, based on the facts, John was most likely Jesus’ closest earthly friend.

In Hebrews 4:1-13, the author wrote about entering into God’s rest. He spoke of people during Old Testament times that had heard the Gospel message but that had not received that message or entered into God’s rest. In Hebrews 4:12, he mentioned dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, but he was not teaching that man is the trichotomous entity of body, soul, and spirit. Instead, his purpose was to encourage Christians that were being influenced back to Judaism and to teach them that Jesus is the Messiah and true God. In talking about the living and active qualities of God’s Word, he also was not focusing on Christians trying to be better witnesses. Rather, he was really talking about entering into God’s rest and about not being able to hide from an all-seeing and all-knowing God.

Throughout the Book of Proverbs, Solomon wrote about the importance of gaining godly wisdom and understanding. In Proverbs 9:1-6, he continued his same reasoning by talking about the needs to forsake the foolish, simple ways of this world and to consciously choose the ways of wisdom and understanding. The ungodly would say that happiness is found in possessions and in wild, carefree living. But over a lifetime, happiness and blessings are really found in the Lord and in doing those things that bring Him honor and glory. In Proverbs 9:1, Solomon wrote that wisdom has built her house and hewn her seven pillars, and he was using that expression as a way to indicate that wisdom puts its affairs in order. Wisdom is organized and orderly, and in Proverbs 4:7, he wrote, "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding."

In Matthew 19:1-12, the Pharisees challenged Jesus on the institution of marriage and the practice of divorce by asking Him if it were lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus' simple reply was that from the beginning divorce had not been an acceptable option but that Moses had given a decree allowing divorce in certain instances. Jesus told the Pharisees that when a man marries a divorced woman he commits adultery with her. His disciples responded by saying that maybe people should not even get married. But Jesus told them that only for those, to whom remaining single had been given, should marriage not be pursued. God sets high standards on marriage. His desire is for one man and one woman to enter into a Christ-based, Christ-centered marriage from the start and then to remain in that relationship for life. Of course, as many can attest from their own experiences, that ideal is often not achieved.

In Galatians 5:16-26, the Apostle Paul wrote that a person should let the Holy Spirit develop His distinctive qualities of character in the person's life. He said that those in Christ should resist the sinful desires that overtake them and that they should be turning more and more from their sins. He also said that individuals should be learning how to demonstrate some spiritual qualities in their life and that they should be bearing spiritual fruit as they strive to stay in step with the Holy Spirit. Those aspects of Christian living are important. They bring honor and glory to the Lord, and they show others what it means to be in Christ and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Christians live in a world where many are hurting and most are searching, so they need to be all that they can be for Christ so that those who do not know Him can come to know Him. Christians should never be a stumbling block to those that need the Lord.

Narratives in the Bible are very important. They are geared towards being internalized, they are easy to hear, they are usually easy to remember, and they are good teaching aids. Children can be taught a lot through stories and biographies, so they can more easily learn and remember the Bible. The key features of Bible narrative are plot and scene, the narrator’s point of view, the development of key characters, and the narrative modes. In the first five books of the Bible, Moses was the narrator. In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John was the narrator. The fourth feature of narrative, which is narrative mode, can be one voice only, a dramatic presentation, a story being acted out where the narrator fills in missing information, or subjective, where the narrator makes moral judgments for the listener. The Old Testament has a lot of narratives because they are easy to hear and easy to remember.

Hermeneutics is the study of biblical interpretation, and the goal is to teach Christians how to rightly divide the Word of God. Over fifty percent of hermeneutics is asking the right questions, and in Genesis 32:1-12, three historical questions and two geographical questions can be asked that will give the Bible student a better understanding of what really happened.

First, why was Jacob making his journey back to his homeland? Based on Genesis 31:13-18, he was returning home to his father and family about twenty years after his conflict with Esau because God had told him to do so. Second, why was he so afraid of Esau? He was afraid because he had cheated his brother out of his birthright and blessing. According to Deuteronomy 21:17, the firstborn son was to get a double portion of the father’s inheritance and was also supposed to take over as the family’s leader. Third, what preparation did Jacob make as he got closer to Esau? He divided his entourage into two separate groups and sent them along different paths. That way, if trouble erupted, he might have had a better chance to escape.

According to Dr. Oliver B. Greene, in his commentary on Acts 2:42-47, the first local church was unusual in every respect. Its initial members were converted suddenly, and no one in that group ever backslid or became an apostate. They professed Christ as Savior and Lord, they were immediately baptized, they were added to the overall number of believers, and they were assembled together to follow the Lord daily. Acts 2:44-45 indicates that those early believers even shared everything with one another so that each person’s needs would be met. With the exception of Ananias and Sapphira, none of them are recorded as having ever held back any of their possessions. They joined together in all aspects for the chief purpose of telling others about Jesus.

In his book Lectures in Systematic Theology, Dr. Henry C. Thiessen wrote that the first church in Jerusalem had at least a type of loose organization and that the local churches that followed were definitely organized. The members adhered to doctrinal standards, they met for spiritual fellowship, they prayed, they observed the two ordinances, they kept a list of members, and they provided material help to their own as needed. Commentator Matthew Henry wrote that the members of the early church were very much together. They had great concern for one another, they were prayer warriors, they were diligent to attend all services, they were very thankful for their relationship with Christ, and they were very cheerful and generous. They acted like an organism in that they were totally focused on their worship of God, on learning more about Him, and on being in close fellowship with each other.

A Christian once used the above verse, from Colossians 3:15, to teach that a person can know God’s will for his or her life based on their inner peace. But II Timothy 2:15 says, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." In reaching the above conclusion, the Christian had not understood the proper meaning of Colossians 3:15. He had taken the verse out of context, and he had not correctly handled the word of truth.

The Apostle Paul wrote his Epistle to the Colossians to deal with the false teachers that had crept into the church. In Colossians 1:22-23, he talked about continuing in the Faith and about their not being moved from the hope that the people had had in the Gospel of Christ. In Colossians 2:4-5, he cautioned them against being deceived or being drawn away by fine-sounding arguments. In Colossians 3:1-2, he wrote about setting one’s mind on things above, not on earthly, temporal things, and in the remaining verses up to Verse Fifteen, he wrote about specific things that the people should do to clean up their lives.

Proverbs 9:7-12 teaches the importance of being open to positive criticism. No one likes to have his or her faults detailed by someone else, but an individual can sometimes benefit greatly when he or she is willing to accept the right kind of instruction. Positive criticism can keep a person from making serious mistakes in life. Solomon wrote that an individual can profit much from the positive, constructive criticism of others. But he also warned that reproving someone that has a bad attitude or someone that is consumed in his or her own sinful behavior could lead to individual shame. Proverbs 9:7-8 suggests that those types of people usually reject positive criticism because they are not willing to give up the pleasures of their sinful lifestyle. Proverbs 15:12 says, "A mocker resents correction; he will not consult the wise."

In Ruth 1:16-22, Elimelech and his family had moved to Moab so that they could escape a bad famine in Judah. While in that foreign land, he and his two sons died, leaving only his wife, Naomi, and their two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. Because both her sons had died, Naomi released her daughters-in-law so that they could make new lives for themselves. However, according to Ruth 1:16 and Ruth 2:11-16, Ruth chose to stay with and care for her mother-in-law, showing that family members should try to support one another during times of difficulty. A short time after the deaths of the men, Naomi decided to return to Judah, and Ruth went with her. To help with the finances, she worked in the fields of Boaz gleaning barley. Boaz was a relative of Naomi. He was a fair, compassionate person, and he always left part of his field not picked so that the poor could gather food. Ruth gleaned from that part of his field, and Boaz took an immediate interest in her. He desired a close, personal relationship with her, so according to Ruth 4:9-16, he exercised his right as a kinsman-redeemer and purchased Naomi's property, including Ruth.

In II Corinthians 1:21-22, II Corinthians 5:1-5, and Ephesians 1:11-14, the Apostle Paul wrote that the Holy Spirit gives assurance of salvation and that He gives each follower of Christ a taste of things to come in eternity. Many people "hope" that they are saved and that they will someday go to heaven. Many "think" that they are saved and that they will someday be in heaven. However, based on the authority of I John 5:13, a person does not have to merely hope or think that he or she is all right. People can "know" that they have been saved and that heaven will someday be their eternal home. God has established each believer with Christ. He has anointed and sealed him or her unto salvation, and He has given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as an evidence against the future. Because of those things, each person, that has received Jesus as Savior, can have confidence in Him and with Him.

The word "church" often refers to a building, a corporation, an assembly, an abstract institution, the universal church, a denominational family, the nation Israel, or an organized local agency. When a general word, like church, is used in a special way, then it becomes technical. So, Jesus deliberately chose that word because it was a general Jewish term, meaning assembly, and He knew that it would have special content and meaning for them.

The church is an organism, it is the body of Christ, and it refers to the local assembly. From a theological standpoint, the church is alive, and it is an assembly of professing believers where the unique presence of Jesus dwells. The church is under the discipline of the Word of God, and it is organized to carry out the Great Commission. The church administers the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and it reflects the spiritual gifts that are described in I Corinthians 12:1-11, Romans 12:6-8, and Ephesians 4:7-13. Based on Romans 10:9, all that profess Christ as Savior should be included in the local assembly, but it is not merely a country club for people that want to band together.

During the past two hundred and fifty years, source critics have challenged the authorship of the Pentateuch. In the Documentary Hypothesis, they acknowledge that Moses may have been the editor of the first five Books of the Bible, but they maintain that four different people actually wrote them. According to those critics, the authors would have been "J" for Jehovah, "E" for Elohim, "D" for Deuteronomy, and "P" for Priestly. Because of how various sections of the five Books seem to overlap and complement each other, they believe that "J" would have lived about eight hundred and fifty years after man’s creation. They think that "E" would have lived about seven hundred and fifty years following man’s creation, that "D" would have lived around 400BC, and that "P" would have lived shortly after the Egyptian exile.

During the first one hundred and fifty years of the church, numerous books and treatises were written by Christians to express their faith and to talk about their involvement with the church and God’s overall work. In 96AD, Clement of Rome wrote an epistle to the Corinthians that complemented the earlier epistles written by the Apostle Paul. Ignatius, who was a very fiery bishop that died around 114AD or 116AD, thought that it would be valuable for Christians to bring together into one volume all the Holy Spirit-inspired writings of the first century. So, in addition to writing many books about the Christian Faith, he also was the first person to suggest that the New Testament be produced. Polycarp was an actual disciple of the Apostle John, and he wrote letters to the churches at Ephesus and Corinth. Because he had been a disciple of the man whom Jesus loved, members of the early church were especially eager to read what he had to say.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus often upset the scribes and the Pharisees, and He did so again in John 9:1-41. That passage shares the account of a young man that had been born blind, and when Jesus and His disciples came upon him in John 9:1-2, the disciples questioned the cause of his blindness. They wanted to know whose sins were responsible for the man’s condition because they believed that sickness and physical handicaps were always the results of sin. But Jesus told them that the man’s blindness had not been caused by anyone’s wrongdoing. It is true that sin can destroy and handicap a person’s life. But in John 9:3, Jesus said that God would show His power by healing the young man. Sometimes, God lets a person experience difficulties in life so that the Lord can demonstrate His power through that individual, and that was His motivation with the young blind man.

In Proverbs 9:13-18, Solomon wrote to young men about recognizing and avoiding certain kinds of temptation and about not being drawn to the wrong kind of woman. Throughout the Book of Proverbs, he warned young men to be careful concerning certain sexual situations because he knew that the male really is the weaker sex. In Proverbs 9:13-15, he described the ways of a foolish woman. Foolish comes from the Hebrew word that means foolish or stupid. Loud or clamorous comes from the Hebrew word that means to make noise, to be loud, or to be in an uproar. Solomon was saying that the foolish, stupid woman is loud and boisterous. She is naïve, she lacks deductive skills, and she calls to all that will listen. Bible Commentator Matthew Henry described her as a temptress who tries to bring down the foolish man, and he advised men to seek and pray for the true wisdom from above as their only defense against the immoral tactics of the devil.

Genesis 24:67, Genesis 25:21-28, Genesis 27:34-41, Genesis 32:9-10, Genesis 33:1-4, and Genesis 35:27 teach God's ideal for the family and talk about relationships within the family. Those passages discuss the lives of Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob. Isaac, the son of Abraham, and Rebekah were married, and they had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Both boys were born on the same day, but they were very different in personality and likes and dislikes. Esau was an outdoorsman. Jacob was more quiet and reserved. Esau liked to go hunting, but Jacob usually amused himself closer to home. A problem arose in their family, however, because Isaac preferred Esau and Rebekah preferred Jacob. Their parental favoritism became disruptive to the whole family, and it caused an unhealthy rivalry between the two boys.