Which of the following are similar to the ways you've served Christ in your family? [check all that apply]
• Taught your kids to see God's glory in nature
• Washed the dishes without being asked
• Played a board game with your kids
• Encouraged your wife to finish her master's degree
• Attended a child's open house at school
• Worked fewer hours to be with your family
• Set an example of a godly prayer life for your children
• Held a crying child
• Swung on the tire swing with your daughter
• Told your wife why you're still in love with her
• Told your son he's got what it takes
• Coached soccer
• Let you child correct you now and then
• Fixed the vacuum cleaner
• Taught your sons to ride a bike
• Listened patiently to a complaint of your wife
• Taped your child's artwork to your office wall
• Admitted to your kids that you were wrong
• Told your children how Christ entered your life
• Cleaned up vomit
• Taught your children to love books
• Been romantic without expecting sex
• Told your daughter she's smart/beautiful
• Set standards for your kids and stuck to them
• Dealt graciously with a busybody neighbor
• Peeled carrots
• Watched movies together
For Better or … Theme of the Week: Delivering the Goods Friday, February 6, 2004
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Men of IntegrityJanuary/February 2004For Better or &…Theme of the Week: Delivering the GoodsFriday, February 671
Key Bible Verse: Once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to do as you have said (Deuteronomy 23:23). Bonus Reading:Deuteronomy 23:21–23
Most of us thrill to tales of people who reveal great character in the crunch moment.
A man I know and highly admire was married to a woman with severe mental problems. Her illness caused her to frequently disappear for long periods. In so doing she inadvertently made my friend's life as difficult for him as anyone could imagine.
I suspect that every friend he ever had would have completely understood if he'd dissolved the marriage. But he chose not to.
Over many years, I never heard him say a negative word about his wife who, because of her sickness, made his life so harsh. He chose to dote on the good memories, the infrequent moments when things went well.
And when she disappeared for the last time, he remained faithful and hopeful. And not in an unrealistic or naïve way. He understood what he was doing. When the word came that she had been found dead, we all searched for ways to convey to this man our profound admiration and reverence for the way he'd conducted this part of his life. The word character was frequently used.
–Gordon MacDonald in When Men Think Private Thoughts
My Response: A man whose character I admire is _____, because &…
Thought to Apply: Once we assuage our conscience by calling something a "necessary evil," it begins to look more and more necessary and less and less evil.
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