“Back in the day, when I was young, I’m not a kid anymore, but some days I wish I were a kid again.” – from the song Back In The Day, 1994.

One of my favorite quotes goes a little something like this, “When I was a child, I acted like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”

You’d think that the dude that wrote this phrase had just been following up an impassioned plea for men to  “act like men”. But he wasn’t. Instead he wrote it after something you’d expect to find ensconced in crochet or festooned on flowery greeting cards:

Love is patient and kind…  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

“Love” in our culture is like WD-40. We spray it on everything: I love burgers; I love my football team; I love my wife. Hopefully our love for our wives means more than our love for cooked cow or grown men tackling each other. This uncommon guy indicates there came a time in his life when he grew out of an immature, boyish love and embraced a more mature, and dare we say, manly love.

If we’re going to love our wives like we ought, we gotta let the boy die. Check out the comparisons below:

• Boys retaliate quickly when hurt; manly love is patient and kind.
• Boys require constant affirmation; manly love is not arrogant or rude.
• Boys stew, stammer, and hold grudges when they don’t get their way; manly love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.
• Boys try to win every argument; manly love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
• Boys have a short fuse; manly love bears all things.
• Boys write people off when wronged; manly love believes God’s best for the relationship.
• Boys lose hope after they’re hurt; manly love always hopes for reconciliation regardless of the pain.
• Boys expect to be served; manly love endures all things.

What’s one way to let the boy die in you this week? Endure a minor offense? Reflect on a criticism rather than retaliate? Serve in a tangible way (i.e. put the toilet seat down, offer to take the kids when you are tired, make the bed with all the throw pillows placed perfectly, etc…)?

Show off some manly love this week. Be UNCOMMEN!