Verse for the day:
“Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:32)

I am not a patient person in the privacy of my heart. I get easily exasperated, not so much with children, they have an excuse, but with adults. I guess I think that adults should be thoughtful, kind, courteous and considerate at all times and especially to me! Well, guess what, that doesn’t happen in real life. I need to have respectful and courteous behavior start with me.

We recently had to move my husband’s mother from Boston to an independent living with assistance facility near us. She has had several minor “incidents” that have left her with short term memory problems and she could no longer live alone. Now I have to admit that our relationship has definitely been rocky along the way, but she doesn’t really remember the hard places and the difficult times anymore. The problem is that I do remember. She has mellowed and even developed a slightly warped sense of humor, but I still see the woman who resented my marriage to her son 33 years ago.

God admonishes me to see her, not as an adversary, but as an aged lady who is due respect. I don’t have to like her, I don’t have to love her, but I do have to respect her and show her that respect.

It also hit me strongly that I have children watching me. How I treat their Great-Grandmother is how they will treat the elderly in their time. Do I want to be treated with contempt or respect? It largely depends on me.

If I can’t do this in my own strength, and I can’t, then I desperately need to lean on God. It is only by appropriating His love and allowing him to work through me that I can show the patience and the respect that God commands of me.

Father God, fill me today with your love and respect for those people who fill my life, both the lovely and the unlovely. Show me the places where I need to change my attitudes and then Lord change me. In Jesus name, Amen.