It was one of those years when my New York Giants decided they didn't want to show up for the playoffs that year. Oh, the Super Bowl was always in their stadium, but sadly no blue and white on the field. The odds makers had been predicting that Denver was going to win by one point. They lost 43-8. Denver Broncos defensive end Shaun Phillips managed to emerge from that blowout a winner still, where it really counts. See, Shaun texted his son Jaylen and said, "Sorry I let you down." His son's answer changed everything. "It's OK Daddy. You are still my hero." Wow! That's perspective. Playing in the Super Bowl - big accomplishment. Being a super dad - that's the biggest victory a man can win. And suddenly, Shaun was reminded of where putting points on the board matters most. He told his son, "Well, at least we get to hang out now." That little exchange on Super Bowl Sunday was a message for every one of us that someone calls "Dad." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hero on the Field, But Hero At Home?" You can be a hero "on the field" - whatever your field is - and be a zero at home. But if you're a hero at home, you can weather the blowouts in all the other parts of your life. My son tells me, "Dad, it doesn't matter how crazy my workday has been, I'll walk in the door of my house and five minutes with my kids reminds me of what really matters." It's true! I smiled when he said that. He and his siblings did that for me more times than I can count. Of course, some dads come home to just another battlefield. But the man of the house has more effect on the climate of that house than anybody else. Beginning in the Garden of Eden, God has held the man ultimately responsible for what happens in his family. It's a classic case of "a man reaps what he sows." That's our word for today from the Word of God, Galatians 6:7, "A man reaps what he sows." So, if you sow unselfishness, you'll start to reap unselfishness. If you sow "I come first," you'll reap a family of people who are all about themselves. So much of that depends on the seed sown by dad. That's why the Bible warns fathers to "not embitter your children or they will become discouraged" (Colossians 3:21). And it says, "fathers do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). I came to realize that I was the thermostat in my family, setting the temperature; my wife was the thermometer, reflecting the temperature I set; and my children were the seismograph, registering every disturbance. Clearly, the central arena of a man's best efforts is to be in his home. And the weight of that life-shaping assignment - with so much potential for being life-scarring instead - has driven me to seek outside help from the God who told us to call Him "our Father." It was being a husband and being a dad that showed me that I am not enough. My family had needs I couldn't meet because I hadn't figured out how to meet those needs in me. That the things that troubled me in my kids mirrored my own weaknesses. My own baggage. My own sin. That's when the word "Savior" becomes intensely personal. I need a Rescuer from the dark side of me that God calls sin. A dark side that becomes a spreading infection when you have a wife and children. So I reached out to Jesus. I grabbed Him like a drowning man would grab a rescuer, because, as the Bible says, "the Lord Jesus Christ...gave Himself for our sins to rescue us" (Galatians 1:3). And there I found that this self-centered sinner of a dad could become what the Bible calls "a new creation in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17). With God's power, anyone can win the game that matters more than any other - winning the hearts of the children that He gave you. If you've never begun your relationship with this life-changing Savior, for your sake, for your family's sake would you open your heart to Him today? Go to our website. I think I can help you get started in that relationship. Go to ANewStory.com. It could be the beginning of a new story for you and for those you love.