Today’s society along with its immoral principles has attacked the identity of a Man. They’ve attempted to demasculinize men and obscure the lines of both man and woman! If you look at what culture is currently breeding, you will find boys who are failing to become Real Men. They fail to necessitate the role of becoming a man: no responsibilities, no commitments, no ambition for excelling in life, and failure to lead as God would have us to! Hollywood personifies men in a sense that is completely contrary to the will of God. In this day we’re living in, it is vital that the Christian Man step up to the plate, and lead this godless society back to the ways God intended! It begins with looking to the ultimate guide on how to become a man: We have a road map and blueprint of what God wants from Men, it’s found in the sacred Word of God. We don’t have to go to seminars or read a book on how to become a man. Although, there are great book’s out there that give great outlines of how to be a man, the significant ones retrieve all their information from the word of God. Simply put, if you want to know how to be a man….look no further than His word! I want to draw your attention to a passage of scripture in the 1st book of Corinthians, Paul was addressing the church in Corinth who had a problem with adapting the identity of their godless culture around them and it spilled over into the church. One of them was an effeminate spirit that was trying to plague the men in Corinth, and Paul reminded them what God was looking for in a Man-“The Christian Man”!

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (ESV)
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

I personally believe this is one of the most defining verses in the bible that God gave us on how to be Men! We can glean five principles from this one authoritative scripture:

1.) Be watchful: There’s an old adage that say’s “if you want to defeat the enemy, you’ve got to distract them.” This is an old device by satan, whom he seeks any way possible to defeat the saint of God. As a Man, it’s his God given responsibility to be Watchful for everything going on around him, and his family. Personally, I start with being mindful of my surroundings, and what I allow in my own life. As a Christian Man, it’s our responsibility to guard our mind, eyes, heart, and even ears. We must be watchful of what we allow ourselves to ingest! It’s no wonder Paul admonishes men to gird the loins of our minds, and be sober minded: This allows us to be watchful of the enemy, because he would love nothing more than for us to become slothful, and forget we have an adversary! Secondly, Men are to be watchful on the behalf of their family. Men have an inherent position that dictates their purpose in life; unfortunately Men don’t always fulfill this position. For example, A nose on an individuals face dictates it’s purpose, God placed it there for specific reasons: One reason being, it serves as a watchmen for what becomes ingested into the body. Could you imagine what we would allow ourselves to consume, if it wasn’t for our nose being there to smell and warn our brains of possible dangers! I know for one, an onion may not look all that bad, but thankfully my nose sends an impulse to my brain from the hideous smell, and like always-I become sickened to my stomach before it even reaches my mouth! Case in point, the Christian Man was ordained of God to put us in a position to protect what comes in and out of our families lives. We have to watch for subtle tricks of satan, and watch for anything that may be harmful to our family. We must stay focused on our purpose, and keep our minds girded to be the Watchman of those God has placed in our care!

2.) Stand firm in the faith: Don’t compromise your truth based on the flavor of religion, know what you believe and stand on it, lead your family by being rock solid in what you believe, don’t allow your ears to be tickled by doctrine that appeals to your flesh! We live in a day where fads change overnight, including religion. As in the parable of building a house in the book of Matthew, many today are building houses on sand, and their foundation is crumbling right before their eyes. There have been many Men of God to throw away everything they once stood for, everything their heritage kept in place and sacrificed for, and the end result is a pseudo-version of Christianity that has caused many families to be led astray. More than ever, the Christian Man must dig down deep to the rock of our salvation, and build our house that will weather the storms of false doctrine. We must stand firm like never before if we plan to be the Noah of our family: Scripture say’s he was the eighth man on the Ark, meaning he made sure all his family were on, before he got on himself! Men, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord!

3.) Act like Men: The lexicon for this phrase means to act Manly. A plague that has weakened the identity of Men has been the effeminate spirit, the same spirit that plagued the Church at Corinth! There are two perspectives we can take from the “effeminate spirit.” One, it’s the actions of a MAN displayed in a manner likened unto a woman –as my plain talk prompts me- it’s when a man acts like a limp wristed sissy! The problem when a Man doesn’t act like a Man is it opens the door to confusion and can lead to homosexuality. As the bible describes, this spirit can grip the heart of a man until he becomes burned within his unnatural lust to lie with mankind. This is why Men must act like Men! Society oppresses Men, and young boys to eradicate the perception of how men are suppose to act. They attempt to tear down the walls of gender separation, and allow young boys and girls to simply choose who they want to be. This is none other than the work of satan who attempts to destroy families, because if he can persuade boys to never become a God fearing Man, then that’s one less God ordained family he has to worry about. We must see the dangers of this spirit, and expose it for what it is!  I believe without doubt, Jesus Christ came to this earth, and displayed the actions of a man with his carpenter calloused hands, and he lived his life of 33 years showing us how to be a TRUE CHRISTIAN MAN! This is whom our model should be derived from-not our society or Hollywood. I’m thankful my father taught me how to handle myself like a MAN, and he condemned a soft-effeminate attitude. Secondly, this spirit is sometimes described as “a lover of ease” mentality. We live in a world where many Men fail to live up to their responsibility of providing for themselves, and their family. They fail to launch from childhood into Adulthood and assume their role as a MAN. Instead, we see many Men who take the easy way out in life, they fail to provide for their family, they fail to provide for their children, and they fail to work in a world of free opportunity. They’re lovers of ease! Our juvenile and detention centers are full of youth who never had a father to teach them or show them how to function in society. This is a sad epidemic among Americans, and many times can be traced back to the roots of “The Man” never taking action and being a real man! Scripture likens a man who won’t provide for his own family to an infidel. God strongly condemns Men who won’t act like a Man and provide for his own! Work and provision was established in the Garden of Eden; God gave Adam a job before he gave him a help meet, that’s profound! God desires for the Christian Man to lead this world back to the ways of God, and He wants us to lead by Example! We’ve got to look beyond society, and draw our blue-print on how to act like a Man from the Word of God!

4.) Be strong: There is a mis-conception among men today where “we men” think strength lies within our own power. Society deems the strength of a Man from the brawn of his physical might. This is not the strength Paul was referring to: He admonishes us to be strong in the Lord! There is danger that lies within the ego of a man, because we sometimes get caught up in our own strengths and abilities, and it’s inevitable that God will cut our feet from under us just to remind us where our true strength comes from! Paul knew where true strength was found: “For my strength is made perfect in weakness” “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” David said: “God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.” “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer” Moses said: “The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” We must keep this inherent knowledge in the forefront of our daily lives: Our true strength lies within the providences of God Almighty! The inner strength of a Christian Man that’s derived from the kneeling position will far exceed any other method of strengthening techniques that one may work daily to achieve. BE STRONG IN THE LORD MY BROTHER!

5.) Let all you do, be done in Love: Paul gives us a powerful scripture that shows us Men how to behave, and it starts with having Love in our heart! I Timothy 2:8 say’s “I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” Paul admonishes the Men to behave in a Godly manner with our speech and hands being used to exalt God, and to have a pure heart full of LOVE, not wrath and doubt. This is the ultimate example of how a Christian Man is to behave. From the first act of hatred in Genesis, Cain used the hands that were meant to exalt God, and instead they were used to commit murder. Cain chose hatred over love, and the end result was murder and waking away from the presence of God forever. God created us to Love, it’s an attribute that has the power to tear down walls, heal broken wounds, and reconcile Men back to God! God loved us so much that he manifested himself in flesh, The Man Jesus Christ, and became a substitute for US. He took our place on Calvary, and showed us how to LIVE…..and HOW TO LOVE!!! He told His disciples the only way people would know if they were truly His disciples was by Loving Others! That holds true for us Men today: We are to do everything in LOVE! The Spirit Filled Christian Man has been given the Fruit of the Spirit-LOVE to aide him in living a life pleasing unto God, and to ultimately point people to Calvary. Men, this is why we must DO EVERYTHING IN LOVE!

It’s my hearts desire to please God Almighty, he has never done me anything but Good, and he has always taken care of me. Like any loving father would, he has chastened me when needed, but I’m truly thankful he loved me enough not to give up on me. That’s where I stand today, I want to show that same compassion of Love towards others, and I want nothing more than for all my brethren among me to draw closer to God, and to be the Men that God has called them to be! Some Men will spend many hours on a couch to sort out their problems, but I want us to know we have the word of God that will enlighten us on any situation! For this articles sake, I hope to have been a help in showing us how we can become a better Christian Man.

Your brother in Christ, Jacob D. Sullivan