A Symptom of a Larger Problem

Innocently, Victoria asked me if she could have a piece of chocolate.  She didn't want just any piece of chocolate, but the Lindor Truffles we received as a Christmas gift from someone who had recently returned from Switzerland.  That's right, chocolate straight from the folks who KNOW chocolate.  I told her she could and then glanced across the room to see her fishing around in the box, searching for the kind she likes best.  Well, I know which kind she likes best...the same kind we all do, the ones in the black wrapper, the dark chocolate ones.  Hmm...are the dark chocolate ones almost gone?  Out of curiosity, I poured them out to see. 

Yes, that's right.  You are seeing correctly.  There is ONE left.  One little truffle out of a 500 g box (I told you it really was from Europe...not an English measurement on the entire container).  Just for reference, the box has been sitting around the house since December 20 and there are still twelve milk chocolate (red wrapper) truffles left.  Clearly everyone is searching for the kind they like best.

"Big deal," you say.  "It's just chocolate."  And you'd be correct.  The truth is, we're about to clear all (or most) of the sugary treats out of the house, and I'll probably end up gifting these truffles to Carenet and the faithful volunteers. (I don't suppose they'll be able to read the French on the box and notice the marked absence of dark chocolate ones.)  But I think this bowl points to an attitude that DOES cause problems in our family...in all families.  We all want our own way and are willing to deprive someone else of what we know they would prefer in order to satisfy our own desires.  So maybe for the new year, instead of grand resolutions that will deserve a A or and F at the end of December, we should strive for incremental changes in our heart.  If we all were to move toward a heart that prefers others above ourself, then I'd really have something to celebrate at the end of the year.

Maybe next Christmas the bowl of truffles would look just the opposite.  If everyone were to prefer one another as more important than himself (think Romans 12:10) everyone would LEAVE the black ones.  Interesting thought, don't you think?

What might "preferring others" look like at your house?