Key Bible Verse: Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others (Philippians 2:3). Bonus Reading: 1 Peter 3:7

When Brenda was a surgical nurse, she was often called out on medical emergencies in the middle of the night. She never rose alone on those wintry nights at 3 a.m., however. I awoke with her, venturing out to warm up her car and scrape her icy windows while she dressed to leave. I returned to my warm bed only when she was safely off.

On the mornings when she had a regular work schedule, I made up her lunch while she showered, dropping special treats into her brown paper sack. Sometimes when I passed her car in the hospital parking lot, I tucked a love note under her windshield wiper.

Invariably, news of how "special" I treated Brenda reached her coworkers during break time. They acted jealously, saying, "You're so lucky to have such a nice husband!" Brenda smiled and replied, "Thanks, I know."

But inside, she didn't know what to feel because I was also trampling on her in other ways. It wasn't enough to polish my image by making "sacrifices" to burnish my reputation as a "sensitive guy." I needed an entirely new mindset and a wholesale change in motive.

My Response: Are my "sacrifices" genuine or done to make me look good?

Thought to Apply: Love … is the slowest growth. No man or woman can really know what love is until they have been married a quarter century
—Mark Twain