Imagine it: the perfect family. The three of them are inseparable. Theirs is a home, overflowing with laughter and love—magnetic, generous, complete. Nothing missing, nothing needed. Their heartbeat is security, trust, and above all, joy.
“Love you.”
“Proud of you!”
“You’re the best!”
They don’t need anything. And yet they want to give. So much love, it can’t be contained. So they make a plan. An incredible decision, to bring someone in from the outside.
But who will they choose?
They can have anyone they want. The most attractive candidate, with a glossy, wipe-clean cover. A perfect gene pool; a guaranteed success.
Be smart. Don’t spoil what you have. Don’t risk what you’ve got. Think of your son—play it safe. Protect him. Protect yourselves.
But they keep looking.
A sealed envelope. Do not open.
This child will destroy you.
Boxes of case notes. A family of felons—murderers, rapists, criminals, addicts. Unwilling and unable to change; genetically damaged. Defiance that’s off the charts.
Give a home to this child, and it will wreck it.
It will rebel. It will refuse to recognize you. It will take your time, your money, everything you have.
It will eat your food and spit in your face. It will spurn your love and chase after others. It will sell itself to the highest bidder—then give itself away for free.
This child will take all you give and still want more. It will curse you and, while laughing, break your heart.
But there’s more.
It will put your perfect family through hell.
It will unleash an unthinkable nightmare.
This child will kill your son—if you take the child in.
So.
Close the file. Go back to your world, the one you created. No one will think less of you. The very opposite! Protect yourself. Protect your son.
But they don’t.
“We’ll take him,” they say.
“This one.
Though it cost us everything, this one. This one, a million times over.
The child that no one wants.
We will set our love upon him.
And we will bring him home.”
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1).
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The Gospel Coalition