This is the beginning of a series of posts that help to further explain Biblical Manhood. This post is a short explanation, to get the full weight of scripture, click the links. The links go to expanded explanations of each part, helping to get a better understanding of the scripture, as it is presented in context.
Proverbs 29:18 states: “Where there is no vision, the people perish”
Several years ago, I found out that one of the surest ways to fail in manhood, was to never know what was expected of you. To never know what manhood meant and to never have anyone show you and teach you what manhood really was. At that point, I began the journey to learn what it really meant to be a man, but, not just any man, a biblical man.
During this time, I journeyed through a lot of resources, some made it seem easy, some showed it for what it really is, a lifelong journey.
What every resource did have in common, however, was this, that someone needed to show you and that community was an important part of the process.
I read, “Raising a Modern Day Knight” by Robert Lewis and began to form a plan as to how I could impart manhood to my boys. How I could give them what was never given to me, because no one ever knew how? This book helped me look at what a knight really was, what his values were and what he believed. I was surprised to find that a knight’s code mimicked the very values God has called a man too.
I began to form a vision of how to impart this to my boys, as they enter a new stage of life. As they enter the beginning of manhood.
While I was doing this, it dawned on me that others may need to hear this as well and that they may be in different stages of being an adult male, but never have heard these truths. God formed a vision of imparting what He has taught me to you and that in this journey, we could grow together.
If you would like to get some resources on being a Biblical Man, check out “Raising a Modern Day Knight” by Robert Lewis and “The Resolution for Men“, by Stephen Kendrick. (Both of these links takes you to Amazon, via affiliate links.)
Now, before I get into what it takes to be a biblical man, let me share with you a definition of Biblical manhood. I have copied this straight from The website, Raising Modern Day Knights.
A Biblical man, rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously and expects the greater reward.
This is a quick version Which coincides with the scriptures I have read and the resources I have searched. There is a lot more, but, this brings it into a simplified definition, easy to understand and explain. A big shout out to Robert Lewis for writing this book.
Understand, I have read many other books on manhood, biblical manhood, biblical fatherhood, leadership and being a Christian in general, but this book seemed to give pointed scripture and tools with which to use that really spoke to me and made it very clear.
So, to start us off, we need to understand that as we begin to learn about being a man, we need to read, understand and follow the below scripture, so that we can start with a good foundation with which to build our lives.
1 Corinthians 13:11;
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways.
For a more in-depth review of this scripture, click this link. I try to explain its meaning in context.)
You see, now is the time for us to begin the journey towards Manhood, to be led by our Father in Heaven. It is time for us to be trained to become the Warrior that God has called us to be, the peacemaker that Scripture calls us to be. We are called to be strong, yet meek, to be decisive, yet humble.
It sounds like it is an impossible task, to be one way, yet also to be another. However, to understand what we are being called into, we need to understand what it is God is calling us to be, based on the definition I just gave.
Keep reading to understand each of the parts of the definition.
We are called to reject passivity.
Romans 12:2 says;
Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.
We are going to learn and hopefully see, that a man cannot and should not just sit on the sidelines and allow things to happen that are not of God. We will learn that we are not afforded the convenience of looking away as another thing comes in and sweeps our family and friends from God.
We will learn to put on the whole armor of God and to wield the sword of truth.
We will learn that the Gospel is the most powerful weapon we have and the one thing we should lovingly give away so that others may live.
We will learn that love is not a noun, but a verb that we should actively strive to do, in all we do.
We will learn to reject passivity.
We are called to accept responsibility.
1 Corinthians 16:13 says;
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
We need to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions. We also need to learn what a man is responsible for.
We will learn that a man is responsible for how he treats a woman, how he treats those around him.
We will learn that part of our responsibility is to provide for our family and any others God places in our household, not just financially, but spiritually.
We will learn that we are responsible for having compassion for others, sympathy and empathy when it is required.
We will learn that our own salvation and our own spiritual walk are our own responsibility, no one can do it for us.
Most of all, we need to learn that it is our responsibility to share the hope we have within us, to share the Gospel, for, how else will they hear but by being told?
He will learn to accept responsibility.
We are called to lead courageously.
Joshua 24:15 says;
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
We need to be taught leadership.
We will be taught that the greatest leader ever known was a servant leader, named Jesus.
We will be shown what that means and how to apply it, in all aspects of our life.
We will be shown that serving others is the greatest love you can show and the best way to serve God. We will be shown and taught that leading someone to the cross (Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ) is the greatest gift you can give them and that no one should be excluded from that gift.
We are called to expect the greater reward
Revelation 22:12 says;
And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.
We need to be taught and to understand that our reward is not here, on earth, where dust and rust will destroy and where it can be stolen, but instead, in heaven, where it will be for eternity. That our reward is in direct comparison to what we have done here on earth for the kingdom, for Christ.
That it is not for us to seek that which the world would esteem higher than the clouds, but instead, to seek that which we cannot obtain here on earth, but will obtain in heaven, with Christ.
We will learn to run the race, fight the good fight, so that in the end, we will hear Christ say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
We will learn that the spreading of the Gospel here, may cost us everything, but will give us so much more.
We will learn to expect the greater reward.
I am nowhere close to being this man.
I am far from perfect and I am still learning what it means to be the man God has called me to be.
You may think that there is no way to obtain what we have discussed, that you are too far gone, that there is no way to get there, but, rest assured, if you are willing to allow God to change you, He will finish the work He began in you.
The bar is set high! Only with God’s help, only with the leading of the Holy Spirit, will we have the chance to break the chains that bind us, to be free of this idea that we are dumb and ignorant and to step into the spot God has for us, to step into our place as men of God.
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