“I’m helping my mother.”
Ray and I went out for breakfast on Labor Day morning. The restaurant had two restrooms side by side. As Ray approached one restroom door, he found a man standing outside the other one. The man said to Ray:
“You go ahead. I’m helping my mother.”
Ray replied:
“You’re a good man.”
When Ray came out of the restroom, the man was still waiting. Ray told him:
“God bless you for helping your mother.”
That mother was blessed to have a devoted son. The son was blessed to have his mother still with him.
I have shared this illustration before but I love the message and emotions Elizabeth Shippen Green created in this scene. I can imagine the man Ray interacted with at the restaurant in the same pose. In 1 Timothy, God used the relationships between members of our immediate families to teach Timothy how to treat various groups within the church. Through Paul, God also taught Timothy about the responsibilities of children and grandchildren in caring for their parents and grandparents. These words guide you as parents as you train your children how to treat people of various ages and especially how to treat you, your parents, and your in-laws.
Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, and to the younger men as brothers, to the older women as mothers, and to the younger women as sisters, in all purity. Honor widows who are actually widows; but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show proper respect for their own family and to give back compensation to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.
1 Timothy 5:1-4