Accountability Lesson
Theme of the Week: Family Reality Check
Tuesday, March 4, 2003
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Key Bible Verse: "You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children" (Matthew 11:25, NIV). Bonus Reading:Matt. 18:10
One evening, my friend's wife disciplined a child at the dinner table in a way my friend didn't like. He told her so. She blew her stack and told him where he could go with his advice. The children burst into tears and ran crying to their rooms.
My friend visited each room, reassuring each child that there'd be no divorce. Last, he visited his five-year-old daughter, Tiffany. She crawled on his lap and said, "Daddy, why don't you go and tell Mommy you're sorry?"
He replied honestly, "Honey, I will. I know I should. But Daddy's heart is hard, and I don't feel like I can just now."
Tiffany responded, "Then I'll pray to Jesus to soften your heart." She placed her hand on his head. "Dear Jesus, please make Daddy's heart soft again and help him to love Mommy. Amen." She then made her assignment: "Daddy, you go to Mommy and tell her you love her; then she'll tell you she loves you. You kiss Mommy; then she'll kiss you. Then you come right back here to me and tell me what you've done, okay?"
The laughter that punctuated her mom and dad's apology became part of a beautiful memory.
—James Walker in Husbands Who Won't Lead and Wives Who Won't Follow
My Response: One way I could be more open to correction is …
Thought to Apply: Home is where families mend each other. In this place, I am welcome, I am safe.
—Bill & Nancie Carmichael (writers)
Adapted from Husbands Who Won't Lead and Wives Who Won't Follow (Bethany, 1969, 2000) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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