Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. (Psalm 127:3, NIV)
It is unlikely that you have ever paid much attention to Mark Love. His brother, Davis Love III—now he’s the guy to turn your head.
In less than three weeks, Davis will experience his second stint as captain of the US Ryder Cup team in the midst of the competition. This time, he may enjoy a win with his squad, but that remains to be seen.
What does not remain in question is the character of Davis Love. When a task force was assembled to figure out a way to “make America great again” when it came to men’s team golf, they chose DLIII. In doing so, they went back to a guy who had done what nearly every other US captain has done in recent Cup matches: failed. But rejecting every victory-loving synapse in the American psyche, the task force tabbed Love because while his team did not win in 2012, Love is a winner, a professional who garners extreme respect.
In all of this, Davis Love III is the famous one. Mark lives in his shadow. This was never the case, however, in the eyes of their father, Davis Love, Jr., who died in untimely fashion when Davis was 24 and Mark just 22. Yet the airplane crash that took Davis Jr.’s life did not take his legacy. That legacy is captured in the words of his sons. Mark said in 2008, “Dad was pretty adamant with making sure you didn’t equate your golf game with who you were.” So even while Davis III’s golf star was rising when that plane went down, Mark knew that his dad loved them the same.
Davis confirmed his father’s perspective in this year’s Links Players magazine, when he noted: “He taught us that your scores didn’t dictate who you were as a person. How you handled yourself and the way you played the game and the way you treated people—your attitude determined who you were… He never brought home a bad day to dinner.”
Funny that Davis III should mention the family meal. It is in Deuteronomy 6 that parents are encouraged to pass on what they have been given from God to their children “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Legacy-building is a parent’s everyday job. It is borne on the lessons we speak and the examples we live. And there is nothing more important for Christian parents to do than to give Jesus, in message and in model, to their children.
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Jeff Hopper
September 9, 2016
Copyright 2016 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.