Talk through options and offer suggestions. Don't ignore an obvious problem in your family life and in your marriage. - William G. Boykin

A man provides leadership. A man provides direction, caution, and advice to others. A man provides emotional and spiritual support. A man provides stability and order. A man provides companionship and good company. A man provides identity. A man provides an example. All of these things require personal sacrifices of time, dedication, and effort. And from where does the strength and inspiration for that come? Or, in other words, what is worth living for, sacrificing for, and even dying for?

Some men can become increasingly self-indulgent and you notice over time they're spending more and more money on personal pastimes. They always want the very best gear available to enhance their hobby. Fishing. Golf. Hunting. Photography. Collecting fossils. Whatever it is, once they've bought every gadget or artifact they can possibly find, they move on to the next diversion, and on it goes. Before long, your friend- or your friend's wife- is trying to figure out how to pay the bills by month's end. Of course, you can't always stop somebody from making foolish mistakes and choices, but as a friend, you really do have a responsibility to try. You may be able to protect a very good friend from making a very bad life decision, and you've got to hope someday he'll find the courage to do the same for you.

Cecil's habit of providing for others wasn't limited to his immediate family. One day he got word his best friend had lost his home in a fire. At that time Cecil was struggling to pay his own bills. But that didn't stop him: he cut corners and scraped together whatever he could. And he gave his friend all the cash he could find. I remember that day- as he handed the cash to his friend- because it looked like so much money to me at the time. I would guess it was no more than a hundred dollars in various denominations of bills, but to an eight-year-old it looked like a fortune. It left a powerful impression on me and just deepened my respect and admiration for him over the years. Throughout my life my father exhibited many examples for me to follow concerning the responsibility a man has to care for those he loves and for those who are in need. My father firmly believed it wasn't the U.S. government's responsibility to take care of his parents, his children, friends, or his neighbors. In fact, in his view, it was his role as an American who loved his country to provide for others as much as possible.