Just Love Them
Last Sunday I was blessed to have an opportunity to hear Archie Manning speak just hours before his son was to play in his second Super Bowl. Mr. Manning participated in a 45 minute Q&A with fans. Several questions were asked of him about what they did in raising three boys to make them turn out to be such good guys with two of them ending up in the NFL playing the same position. The response to these questions contained some really good advice for men so here is a summary of what he said:
1. Love your kids
2. Spend quality time with them
3. Help them set priorities
4. Have meals as a family
5. Have a weekly Family Meeting
Mr. Manning had some additional detail to the above, but you can see from the summary that these are some great principles that seem to have been very effective based on what we know of their three boys. In addition, they have also served them well in their marriage as they are 41 years into that as well. The take away from the above for me on this Valentine's Day is that #1 bullet point, “Love your kids”. Mr. Manning shared that they we were not trying to raise future Super Bowl MVP’s or NFL quarterbacks, but they were just trying to be a family, raise their boys and love them. This comment about loving them being a priority and something that he thought was one of the most important things he could do as a father really hit home to me. Today's scripture is 1 John 3:18 ...
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
This Scripture not only talks about love, but tells us that our actions should also demonstrate love. If you look at the rest of the list that Mr. Manning shared as being important, it shows that they worked to make time for their kids, which is a very unselfish expression of love. We know that Jesus made it clear that we are to love each other and that several scriptures tell us that throughout the Bible. Mr. Manning's simple comment shows a real life example of the good that happens within a family that loves one another. They consciously made loving a priority not to get something in return, but just because they wanted their boys to be loved. I’m not sure who in your life today needs someone to reach out to them with actions and show them love, but I pray that we will all be willing to take the time to be bold and represent our Lord and Savior well. Love all that we interact with today.
- Matthew Likens
1. Love your kids
2. Spend quality time with them
3. Help them set priorities
4. Have meals as a family
5. Have a weekly Family Meeting
Mr. Manning had some additional detail to the above, but you can see from the summary that these are some great principles that seem to have been very effective based on what we know of their three boys. In addition, they have also served them well in their marriage as they are 41 years into that as well. The take away from the above for me on this Valentine's Day is that #1 bullet point, “Love your kids”. Mr. Manning shared that they we were not trying to raise future Super Bowl MVP’s or NFL quarterbacks, but they were just trying to be a family, raise their boys and love them. This comment about loving them being a priority and something that he thought was one of the most important things he could do as a father really hit home to me. Today's scripture is 1 John 3:18 ...
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
This Scripture not only talks about love, but tells us that our actions should also demonstrate love. If you look at the rest of the list that Mr. Manning shared as being important, it shows that they worked to make time for their kids, which is a very unselfish expression of love. We know that Jesus made it clear that we are to love each other and that several scriptures tell us that throughout the Bible. Mr. Manning's simple comment shows a real life example of the good that happens within a family that loves one another. They consciously made loving a priority not to get something in return, but just because they wanted their boys to be loved. I’m not sure who in your life today needs someone to reach out to them with actions and show them love, but I pray that we will all be willing to take the time to be bold and represent our Lord and Savior well. Love all that we interact with today.
- Matthew Likens
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