by Daren T. Dilts
“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” ~ 1 Corinthians 16:13
What are we missing? Why are so many men today so self absorbed, arrogant, irresponsible, and immature. I can’t say that as I look around the city in which I live, or the country I live in, that I am seeing men that are Christ centered and biblical very often. They are out there, and I’m proud to know some of them are in our own church, but overall, men like that seem to be few and far between.
Theodore Roosevelt said “We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the man who embodies victorious effort; the man who never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life.”
I firmly believe that the biblical man must be rough and tough, and always ready to handle anything that comes his way. He must be strong yet gentle, confident yet humble, capable yet teachable, durable yet tender, and firm yet gracious.
Biblical men must rise above pettiness, gossip, and childish squabbles, to provide a fatherly example of leadership and godliness. While being sincerely concerned for his family, he must not get caught up in the occasional drama of women and children. He must be a good provider, a strong protector, and a constant promoter of biblical virtues.
Godly men must exhibit the Heavenly Father in their lives, to their family, and to others. He can only do that by knowing our Heavenly Father deeply, loving Him sincerely, and following Him fully. Therefore we must be disciplined, and force ourselves to deny the spiritual laziness of our flesh, and exercise masculine godliness by committing to read His Word daily, and pray daily for what really matters – not just saying it, but DOING it!!!
With fixed infirmity’s being the only exception, I believe the Biblical Man must be SPIRITUALLY SOLID, MENTALLY SHARP, PHYSICALLY STRONG, and EMOTIONALLY STABLE. This is our aim, our goal, our mission, and our mantra.
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” ~ Mark 12:30
Every man must start from where he is right now, and move daily towards becoming that man! Even with all our shortcomings, our failures, our weaknesses and faults, we must begin to take man sized steps towards becoming all that God the Father has called us to be.
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:11
It is time for Christian men to put away childish things, and to start speaking, thinking, and acting like biblical men. We do not follow women, we do not act like children, we do not seek self gratification, no, we follow Christ! We see the need and take the lead, we proclaim the truth, stand on the rock of ages, and gather our strength and resolve from being on our knees in prayer to the King of Kings!
Then we rise from our knees, full of faith, ready to face the world, the flesh, and the devil, with the intention of winning – every day! MAN UP!!!
by Daren T. Dilts, Pastor
Why? Because the older generation does not disciple the younger generation. In generations past it was not so obvious because boys became men under their fathers, but when you have a 50% divorce rate and you have 40% of kids being born to single mothers, you have the majority of boys having no home example of how to be a man, and if the church does not have men to disciple the boys (way more than teaching these boys in sunday school for an hour on sunday morning assuming these boys even have a mail sunday school teacher) what do you expect. If you have a generation of young men who are not men its because the generation before did not teach them how to be a man. If the young men who grew up around you act like boys thats an indictment against yourself.
Great stuff brother! I started a blog last year on that exact topic biblicalmanhood333.com! Thank you for your insight!