27 Words That Matter

One of the quickest things you learn as a parent is how dangerous it is to explain too much, especially when your kid is teetering on the brink of a rebellion. The fewer words you use, the more power they have. A kid who is about to be carried away by their feelings needs to be brought back to earth with a tether made of short, succinct directions.

There are a lot of similarities between the Pharisees of Scripture and a toddler on the edge of a meltdown. Stay with me — this will make sense, I promise. Think about it: both toddlers and Pharisees have lots of feelings and lots of opinions. Both toddlers and Pharisees think you’re out to get them. Both toddlers and Pharisees keep trying to trick you to get what they think they want.

A thorough Google search informs me that there are about 80,000 words in the Torah. Eighty-thousand words, and Jesus can boil it all down to 27: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

It doesn’t make the excess words untrue; it doesn’t even make them unnecessary. Sometimes I need the long explanation, the full and complete picture.

Because sometimes, as much as I hate to admit it, I act like both a toddler and a Pharisee. I am carried away by my feelings. I don’t trust God. I am about to bolt.

When that happens, I need to be told in short and simple terms what my salvation means. I need a tether made of short, succinct directions.

“The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” — Matthew 22:40

©LPi