Last updated on August 27, 2020
Question:
I had Jesus in my heart one time. My brother was pestering me. I asked mom to tell my brother leave me alone, but my mom wasn’t listening to me; so I finally had enough. I punch him and lost God. That isn’t right. Right?
Answer:
Hitting someone to get your way isn’t right. In the days when Jesus was on the earth, the Jewish people had a saying, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” What was meant by this is that they could do back to people whatever was done to them. So if someone hit them, they thought it was right to hit that person back. However, Jesus said that was wrong. “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matthew 5:39). If it is wrong for someone to hit you, it doesn’t magically become right to hit that person back — it is still wrong.
So it was wrong for you to hit your annoying brother. Everyone makes mistakes and does the wrong thing at times. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (I John 1:8). The question is not whether we do wrong, but want we do about it when we realize we made a mistake. Christians don’t like sin, so when we sin, we admit our mistake and ask God to forgive us. When we really mean that, God doesn’t hold our sin against us; instead, He forgives us. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).
The first thing you should do is tell God that you are sorry for hitting your brother. The second thing you should do is let your brother know that you are sorry that you hit him. And finally, the third thing you should do is think of a different way to solve the problem that doesn’t involve hurting another person. For example, do you have a place that you can go to for quiet that your brother cannot go? That will give you some time to calm down before you have to face your brother again.
Question:
I asked my mom to tell my brother to stop, but she didn’t even try to stop him. Even if I did walk away, he would bug me again. It is all my fault though.
Answer:
Yes, even parents get tired of constant battles. Are you saying your brother was bothering you because of something you did earlier?
I assume that like most people with autism you find your senses overloaded most of the time. Add any annoyance to that, it can get overwhelming. That is why I suggest going someplace calm for a while. Yes, your brother will still be a bother when you come back, but you should be a bit better at handling the annoyance again for a period of time.
Question:
I don’t know. I don’t think so. There are a lot of things that I did that I am not proud of.
Answer:
Mistakes happen, but learn from them and strive to be better in the future. Meanwhile, take several deep breathes and realize that eventually even little brothers grow up and settle down.