None of us, if our child asks for bread, will give him a stone. But what if he asks for cake?

We all experience it. Especially these days. Oftentimes, what seems like the most loving response to a friend or family member is actually the opposite of loving in the long run.

Jesus talks about this in the Matthew 7:

9 “For what man is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone?
10 “Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
11 “If you then, who are evil, can give to your children good gifts, how much more shall your Father, Who is in Heaven, give good things to those who ask Him?
12 “Therefore, whatever you would have men do to you, even so do to them. For this is the Law and the Prophets.
13 “Enter in at the strait gate. For it is the wide gate and broad way that leads to destruction. And many go in there.
14 “Because the gate is strait and the way narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

~Matthew 7:9-14

Notice that Jesus not only ties the giving of good gifts directly to the "Golden Rule" (Matthew 7:12), but He also ties the Golden Rule directly to entering in at the strait (or narrow) gate, implying that truly good gifts often may not appear so in the short term.

When a loved one desires the thing that I believe is not the best choice for them, but will only provide short-term satisfaction and indeed have much worse long-term consequences, I know from Scripture (and from life) that the most loving response is often not what they want to hear in that moment.

But if I truly love them, I will speak the truth.
I will not give them cake, but bread.

That's what I would want from them.