Being a big brother is a gift and a responsibility. While it’s common for brothers to fight, younger siblings can also be your best allies and friends.
This story is a great example of what it takes to be a big brother who is worth looking up to…
A friend of mine named Paul received a car from his brother as a birthday present. The next day when Paul came out of his office, a ragtag boy was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it. “Is this your car, Mister?” he asked.
Paul nodded. “My brother gave it to me for my birthday.” The boy was astounded. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy, I wish …” He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his core.
“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.”
Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added,
“Would you like to take a ride in my car?”
“Oh yes, I’d love that.”
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, “Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?”
[Tweet “No one has ever become poor by giving.”]
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.
He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother.
He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.
“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for his birthday and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m gonna give you one just like it … then you can see for yourself all the pretty things that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride.
That day, Paul learned the meaning of: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”