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Key Bible Verse: Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them (Mark 10:16).Bonus Reading: Mark 10:13-16

Pat and my five-year-old son, Dale, were at the airport to meet me when I returned from three days away. I was so anxious to talk with my wife that I inadvertently ignored Dale. He repeatedly tried to get my attention, but in a less than kind voice I said something like, "I need to talk to your mother—just hold your horses." By the time we got home, my usually people-pleasing child had the whole family in turmoil. His behavior had so deteriorated that I was on the verge of spanking him.

Then Pat whispered to me, "Why don't you practice what you preach?" I was about to punish my boy when I was misbehaving myself. I wasn't fulfilling my basic responsibilities as a Christian father. I forgot to ask myself, What does my child need? An empty emotional tank is the most common cause of misbehavior in a young child.

Dale needed his daddy. Through his misbehavior, Dale was saying, "You won't even talk to me. Don't you love me anymore?" I took Dale to our bedroom and held him. I filled his emotional tank with eye contact, physical contact, and focused attention. After three or four minutes, he was his usual lovable, sweet self.

—D. Ross Campbell in The Transformation of a Man's Heart

My Response: Am I willing to let my children's needs trump my own self-image?

Adapted from The Transformation of a Man's Heart (InterVarsity, 2006) by permission.

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Help me, Lord, to empower my children by investing in their physical, emotional, and spiritual maturity.

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