Building Up the Kingdom, One Relationship at a Time (08/23/2025)

One day, the two boys were playing with duplos (duplos are like legos only bigger) at the dining room table of their in-home childcare. Each boy had been given the same number of duplos with which to play. But then one of the boys decided to take several of the other boy's duplos. The boy who was suddenly missing duplos got out of his chair, walked to the other side of the table, tapped the duplo snatcher on the shoulder and said, “I like you. I am glad you are my friend. Could you please give me back my duplos?” The snatcher said, “OK.” The issue was settled. Their relationship grew.

A mother had come to pick up her child. She’d arrived a bit early. She witnessed the duplo incident and its resolution. She commented on how amazed she was at the peaceful resolution of the situation. The childcare provider explained that she tried to instill in the youngsters an appreciation for resolving issues by listening to one another and cooperating with one another. The mother thanked the childcare provider for teaching the children how to build relationships with one another. Then she added, “Everything you did with the children is evidence of how much you love them.”

The best way to teach love is to live love and to encourage one another to seek loving solutions whenever possible. We know this from our own lives. We’d all rather see a sermon than hear one any day, as the poet Edgar Guest so eloquently said. And Jesus was the epitome of teaching us through example. My friend who shared this story recently with me was the childcare provider. While she doesn’t do childcare in her home any longer, she’s still actively building relationships with others. She is a “sermon” I see and appreciate. She reminds me of the LORD’s call to us to love one another and of the possibilities in our world to do just that.

How could those of us reading this blog today change the world for the better if we tried to emulate these two boys at play as we go about our adult lives this week? How could we build new relationships or strengthen existing ones if we started with “I like you” rather than with a complaint or an criticism? How would our world change if building relationships peacefully and respectfully trumped getting what we want in the moment?

I can’t help but think of the major events and divisions in our world. How I wish that Russia and Ukraine could sit at a table, remind one another of their commonality and listen to one another and seek a resolution that builds rather than destroys. I know many will say that this is war between countries and it can’t be resolved this way. But I have to ask, “Why not?” Why can’t we learn to resolve our differences in ways that build relationships rather than destroy lives?

We may not be able to resolve the world tensions as naturally as these two boys over duplos at childcare, but can we take their lesson forward with us into our world, into our lives? Can we commit to being followers of Christ who taught us that love is the way to everywhere, especially to life in abundance? Can we work daily to build the kingdom by consciously and intentionally working on building stronger and more loving relationships with one another? Can we commit to listening better to one another, to cooperating with one another when possible?

Let’s see if we can. Let’s start today.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.