Monday, June 9, 2008

Manly Men

Let me describe manliness as I see it revealed in the Bible.




  1. Manliness is not perfection. Some of God's greatest men were men who made the greatest mistakes.


  2. Manliness is not equated with size or brawniness, very few of God's men are described with physical characteristics. It doesn't matter how often you shave, either. It is not about machisimo.


  3. Manliness is about heart and character.


  4. It is being faithful to God, family, church, self and your personal calling.


  5. It is being responsible for your actions, behavior and dependents. It is about not whining or quiting.


  6. It is about facing adversity and growing closer to God.


  7. It is about believing God when no one else around you does.


  8. It is about compassion for those around you, particularly those who are weak or helpless.


  9. It is about love, for God and love for people.
  10. It is about the inner man. Inner strength, inner peace, inner confidence and contentment.


  11. Manliness is a male role, but not the same as maleness. A guy may be male, but not manly, however one can not be manly without being male.

I fear that we have confused the issue between male and manly. Two places in the Bible is the phrase "quit you like men" used. First by a Philistine officer, when his troops were loosing a battle (they rallied and won). Second, when Paul told the Corinthian Christians to behave as men. The world equates Christianity with weakness. God desires and honors manly Christian men and no, its not about football or beer either.

Aren't you tired of the way the entertainment world portrays men? Let's rise up and take our world back!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I couldn't agree with you more about being manly. The need today is great for Christion men to stand forth as manly men.

Anonymous said...

Take out the word "Manliness" out of all of your statements and you are simply talking about humanity. Each person, male or female should be able to live up to the standards that you call "manly". As a matter of fact, as you list your classifications, you begin to lose the word Manliness and start just saying "IT IS". IT could be anything that refers to people. Your final statement is what really doesnt' make sense.

"Manliness is a male role, but not the same as maleness. A guy may be male, but not manly, however one can not be manly without being male."

It really seems that everyone should be manly, but you say one can't be manly without being male. So you must belive that women can't...

be about heart and character.

be faithful to God, family, church, self and your personal calling.

be responsible for your actions, behavior and dependents. It is about not whining or quiting.

face adversity and growing closer to God.

believe God when no one else around you does.

have compassion for those around you, particularly those who are weak or helpless.

be about love, for God and love for people.

be about the inner man. Inner strength, inner peace, inner confidence and contentment.