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Key Bible Verse: Their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them 1 Timothy 5:4). Bonus Reading: Matthew 15:1-9

My husband's father wasn't the kind of man he'd have chosen as an adult companion. He was often coarse, profane, and irritable. Although Dennis didn't like many of his dad's qualities, he decided to love him, doing the things he'd have done if he felt great fondness for him.

During the last three years of his life, Dennis's father, Murray, lived alone in a one-room apartment, alienated from Dennis's mother, and seldom visited by friends. Dennis's three brothers lived hundreds of miles away and called Dad several times a month. We made it a point to visit him twice a month.

When Dennis talked with his father every few days on the phone, he ended each conversation by saying, "I love you, Dad." He wasn't necessarily reporting his feelings, but stating his intentions.

Later, during his last days in the hospital, Murray had trouble breathing; Dennis helped him with an inhalation exercise. This required Murray to cough up sputum, which Dennis would catch in a towel he held under Dad's chin. "Atta boy, Dad!" Dennis coached, "Get it up! You can do it." When we love, we choose to affirm another's personhood and encourage his efforts.

—Ruth Gibson in The Sandwich Years

My Response: Do I view love as a response to feelings or as a predetermined attitude?

Thought to Apply: Parents are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don't fulfill the promise of their early years.—Anthony Powell (British author)

Adapted from The Sandwich Years (Baker, 1991) 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

Lord, help me to grasp how it is that You expect me, as a grown-up, to honor my parents.

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