“A Real Man “
There is a lie that satan has gotten the world to believe about what a real man is. We as men try to achieve this “real man” status, and as a result we are not stepping up to the plate as a “real man” should. Is a real man really the best athlete? Is a real man really the guy that the most girls like? Is a real man the guy that parties the most? Is a real man the guy with the most financial success? This is what the world tells us is the measure of a real man. This is the lie that I bought into for so much of my life. I was a real man by the world’s standards, and looking back I see how far off I was. I have a good friend that put it to me this way, “walk through a grave yard and check out the tombstones KJ, and see what people have written on them. How many tombstones say “I had the most girlfriends, and was able to walk all over them. I had one of the fattest wallets in my hometown, or I was such a better athlete than all my friends?” Pretty much none is the answer to that question (if there is one I haven’t run across that tombstone yet).
This is a working definition that I would use to describe a “real man”:
- He lives for something other than himself (what it takes to be a real man by the worlds definition is just a bunch of selfish thinking and actions. “I am gonna go get drunk, no matter who it affects because I want to. I am gonna get as rich as possible and collect material possessions, who cares about helping someone in need. I am gonna have as many girlfriends as possible, who cares if I hurt a few of there feelings along the way; a real man has to have empathy towards others.” He lives in a way to try and glorify God in all that he does. 1 Peter 2:12
- He boldly stands strong in His faith in the Lord. He does not waiver in the face of adversity or temptation. He is so in love with God that it oozes out of him. Hebrews 10:36
- He lives and focuses on the eternal and not the temporal. (As the apostle Paul said “live as citizens of Heaven, while here on Earth.”
- He loves his neighbors, and his enemies. (as Jesus commanded)
- He is not scared to show and express his love towards others. (it is not sissy to love)
- He battles as a spiritual WARRIOR every waking minute until his life on earth is over. He fights the good fight described in 1 Timothy.
- He loved the Lord, and man did it show by how he lived his life! (That is what I want my tombstone to say) Philippians 1:21 To live is Christ and to die is gain!
WHAT IS GOING TO BE ON YOUR TOMBSTONE?
-KJ Hendricks
This is so refreshing! and encouraging
thank you so much for this post!!! I had just been talking to a friend about this yesterday, I have been struggling for the last few months with what a truly Godly man looks like becuse I was taught a man never shows any emotion exsept rage, never let anyone see a chink in your armer, if someone pats you on the back there looking for a soft place to stick a knife,always travil alone ’someone else will just slow you down”, get your butt to work as soon as you can walk & don’t stop till they bury you, the best way to be valuble is to be invaluble, don’t ever fight to just fight “take care of the problem, never don’t have knife on you but don’t pull it intill & inless you are fully ready to kill the person, ext. I lived till just a few years ago by these rules, I never cryed or let any weakness show, I worked myself into ground, & never let anyone toch me with out them leaving injered. but then I started really presueing God & all of a sudden all this stuff came bubbling to the servise & i could no longer contain it! I would break down in tears over someone being trated unjustly, I craved touch, I craved being with people ext & it’s been painful to change the tide of 33 yers of thinking, but I also for the first time feel alive instead of a walking corps, that thinking still plages me often but my desire to know a fathers love & the protection & nertering of a real family keep me pressing forword.