The small, “whittler’s knife” stood out from among the larger, more fearsome knives in the display case at the store. I could envision my oldest son, Josh, carving beautiful artwork for his middle school class projects. Josh is a talented artist, you know. He does especially well with projects that he can create with his hands.

It was settled! Josh needed that little knife for his birthday. With it he could further his blooming art career. I knew that he would love it.

When I presented the gift to Josh his eyes widened in amazement. He had an old boy scout knife that was rather dull and clumsy but this one was designed for whittling! I could see the possibilities race through his mind as he held it in the palm of his hand.

I promised to show him how to use the knife but I had to take care of an errand first. Therefore, I told him to leave the knife alone until I got back. So I left, took care of business and returned back to the house to see my youngest son, Matt, standing outside waiting for me at the sidewalk. Something was wrong.

As I parked the car Matt ran back into the house. I entered my home with both boys standing together. Matt said, “Tell him, Josh.” Josh, with both hands behind his back, shrugged his shoulders and said, “What?”

I demanded, “What happened son?” but Josh would not answer. Finally, Matt looked at his brother, who glared at him not to tell, and said that Josh cut his hand with the new knife.

Josh extended a cloth wrapped hand soaked in blood. I unwrapped it and saw that Josh had sliced his palm diagonally to the bone! Within five minutes we were at the local emergency medical clinic.

Josh tried to hide his mistake from me. If it were not for his little brother, Josh may have hidden his accident to the point of serious harm. Matt tried to reason with Josh but he would not listen to him. Matt then had to take it to the next level and tell me.

Josh, the artist, has full use of his hand today because of the courage and compassion of his little brother. May God bless all those in Christ who care enough to confront a brother who has harmed himself with sin.

“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17).