“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NLT)
Yesterday, I challenged you to do the hard work to be a real man. Today, I want to challenge you to run your race.
Part of the brokenness in our country stems from the fact that, according to our Father and His Word, we don’t just raise children – we raise sons and daughters. There are some commonalities in raising sons and daughters but, biologically, chemically, and hormonally, they are male and female. If you, like me, have raised both sons and daughters, you fully understand that boys and girls are different. At some point, everyone who has raised a son thinks, “Now I believe in evolution. This kid is a few steps back on the evolutionary chart.” Until a boy has a full testosterone bath and gets to a point of maturity, he is at risk of complete self-destruction all the time. But then, his sister gets her period and becomes a young woman with increased emotional sensitivity, and the dad is like, “Whoa! Help! Wife, please, now!”
Here’s the language of the Bible: it speaks of “men” or a “man” 4,000 times, a “husband” over a hundred times, a “wife” over 400 times, a “woman” or “women” 600 times, “sons” 4,000 times, and “daughters” 700 times. Just reading those words triggers some people, but God does not care because His Word is a very unsafe space for unrepentant sinners. Part of the world’s problem is that they don’t know what a man is or does, so they don’t know how to take a little boy and grow him into a man. Men are far more important, vital, and necessary than our world thinks. Arguably every single cultural problem, pain, and peril is because men have failed to do what God created them to do. The only solution is not more government but better men. The bestselling t-shirt at our church was a quip from one of my sermons, “More Fathers. Less Government.”
Wherever you’re at, just start there. Do you have a wife and kids? Great. Do you have a girlfriend who’s pregnant? Not great. You did the fire, aim, ready process, but it’s not too late to turn things around. You don’t need to pretend you have it all figured out. Just be honest and repentant, and God can turn around your life and legacy.
If you’re reading this devotional and you’re a man, you matter. I don’t care where you start; things can get better. Don’t worry about your starting line; stay focused on His finish line. Keep running the race set before you as a man of God. If a man surrenders himself to his Heavenly Father and wants to be a good son, the Father is very gracious to pour out blessing and help that man.
Come back tomorrow as we wrap up the week talking about the Church vs. the world.
What is most concerning and/or frustrating about what culture is teaching emerging generations about men and masculinity?
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