“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”1 Cor. 16:13-14 (ESV)

     In the previous article, I wrote of the need for men to act like men. It is vitally important that men understand their role in the spirit as a man and hence in marriage, family, and society. In this article we will look at the characteristics of strength that define a man. In order for a man to be complete in his spiritual walk he must find his place in the spiritual realm of being a man. Therefore, he will first have to see the picture of what a man is. The word of God and its proven outcomes are the standards from which this lesson is based. If it is disagreeable to you in some way then you have gleaned your information from the wrong source. Following God’s pattern is a proven method that will bring eternal results. I have been married for forty-six years (as of 2021). I have a son, a daughter, and five grandchildren, all of whom are in the Lord’s church and strong in their convictions for God (including their spouses). I have two adopted daughters in Africa who are also strong in the church, along with their spouses.  While I was not as proficient at manhood in the beginning of my marriage as I have come to be, which brought a few rough spots in the road, following the word of the Lord has served my family and me well as we have grown in it. If you are one who desires to have this same blessing then these are the traits that need to be honed and taught to men, and especially to young men, as they grow.

     When we consider the strengths of a man we must first temper the male ego with the understanding that it is not about being a macho man tyrant. The strength that will carry the day is spiritual, mental, and emotional strength. I have seen some physically strong men who were spiritual, mental, and/or emotional wimps. I have seen men of physically challenged stature who were powerful in the spiritual, mental, and emotional characteristics of a man. The respect meter always goes in the direction of the latter. In order to prepare young men for manhood we must understand that the mind is carnal and that we are training a carnal mind to become spiritual. The training needs to begin as soon as possible. I heard a poem once years ago by Ed Bousman that I have often repeated. I do not know if he was the original creator of the piece and my recital is from only hearing it once so forgive me if it is not exact:

“I took a piece of plastic clay and idly fashioned it one day

And as my fingers pressed it still, it moved and yielded to my will

I came again when days were passed, that piece of clay was hard at last

That form I gave it still it bore and I could change that form no more

I took a piece of human clay and gently touched it day by day

I molded with my power and art a young child’s soft and yielding heart

I came again when days had gone; it was a mind I looked upon

That early impress still he bore and I could change that form no more” 

     When we seek to train for the mastery of the spirit we must train the mind first, followed by the heart. The tangible aspects are the things that come first and the spiritual contemplations come after. The first thing that we must seek to find strength in is the discipline of the mind. If a man does not learn to discipline his mind in life he will be weak. The idea of discipline is doing the right thing even when the flesh says to do the wrong thing. It is also doing the hard thing when the flesh says, do the easy thing. Society’s favorite word today is “can’t”. I had a sibling who used to say “I can’t” so often that, out of frustration, my father forbade him from saying “I can’t” again. I remember the day when my father, in the heat of frustration, told him that he did not want to hear him say “I can’t” again. My brother said, “But I can’t do that.” That netted him a good whipping. Being the second born provided me with many great lessons at the expense of my older brother, and for that I am thankful. The attitude of a man is “I can” until otherwise proven. There are extreme exceptions to this rule in the physical realm, such as acts of stupidity like believing you are bullet proof; but for the humanly achievable, faithful determination is imperative to manhood.  As for the spiritual realm, there are no limitations of humanity, provided the goal is in line with the will of God; in which case nothing is impossible (Matt. 19:26).  It is the strength of a disciplined mind that will get the job done while the weaker minded will still be gridlocked in decision making processes (i.e. congress). The mind has to be disciplined to see the positive outcome and to see the difficulties as challenges that only perfect our strengths. I would rather be positive and be wrong than to be negative and be right. The point being that even if the end result is not what is expected, it is better to carry a positive and powerful attitude through the process than to be a negative crybaby. 

     The training of the mind for this strength of determination should begin at a young age and it starts with basic menial tasks. Hard work is to be the earmark of a strong man. Solomon wrote:

          “The desire of a lazy man kills him, for his hand refuses to labor.” (Prov. 21:25)

     When Jesus gave the parable of the talents He came to the third servant who had received the one talent, and that servant began to render his many excuses. I love the way Jesus cuts to the chase and calls it as it is,

  “You wicked and lazy servant…” (Matt. 25:26) 

      God despises laziness. They had a problem at the church of Thessalonica where some were being lazy. They were not working and they were sponging off of the church. Paul had a simple solution; DON’T HELP THEM! He reminded them that he had already told them before:

          “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10 NKJV).

     Whether the work is more physical than mental or whether it is more mental than physical we must instill a mindset of hard work being an admired virtue in our children and in ourselves. When I counsel young women on their choice of husband I ask them if he is hard working. If they cannot answer that in the affirmative with confidence I give them this piece of advice, “Get away from the bum.” Hard work is a virtue that is necessary to manhood. As a young man I had a great admiration for hardworking men. When I was young, my father had two sets of clothes; olive green work uniforms six days a week, and Sunday go-to-meetin clothes. Until he had physical disabilities later in life and became disabled, I do not remember him ever taking a day off of work for sickness or laziness. At twelve years old I got a job working summers and after school for a contractor doing roofing, cement work, and carpentry. It is a blessing to me that I was not victim to the overzealous enforcement of child labor laws. Some of the most respectable men I ever met as to determination were men that I met in doing that work. The brother-in-law of the man I worked for was named Jerry Rolston. He did masonry work. I used to hear how Jerry was one of the hardest working men around. Jerry was one of those guys who had a naturally powerful build with those large working hands. Years later when I was doing contracting myself I contacted Jerry about a job that required the digging of a foundation under an existing house. Jerry was about 60 years old at that time. I asked Jerry how he was going to get the backhoe to do the job and he said, “I don’t use backhoes.” In two days Jerry hand dug 130’ of foundation 3’ deep under an existing house in Ohio red clay using a pick and a spade. You do not do that with a whiney “I can’t” attitude. Hard work needs to be respected and promoted. Who we look up to makes a great difference as to who we become. It is a telling tale when we see the non-working, attention dressing, drug enslaved characters that young people look up to today. In fact, I cannot even limit it to the young anymore. As the present generation is getting older many of them are still enamored with such characters. As a young man I equated hard work with being a man. I long for our children to see this picture today.

     This same attitude of determination and hard work will carry over into the spiritual realm as one grows in the faith. In the spiritual realm it is always the strength of determination that carries the day. In this realm there are no barriers that stop us within the will of God other than our own weakness, fear, or laziness. The scriptures prove to us that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil. 4:13). Our mindset must be, 

“Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

 A man must continue to hold that positive and powerful mindset even when he does not see the result he would have thought it to be or when he has perhaps failed due to a yet unperfected virtue. Determination gets back on the horse for another round until the horse is broken. I love the story of Peter walking on the water in Matt. 14. When Peter sees Jesus walking on the water he immediately wants to get out there and go at it. As Peter is walking to Jesus he begins to look around and see all of the physical adversities around him in the wind and the rain and the waves and he begins to sink. He cries out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” People often criticize Peter’s dogged determination because during his growing period he would often stumble. I look at it in a much different way. Those who criticize Peter or the other Apostles for their failures need to tread carefully and not stumble over their own pride of believing that they would have even come close to the faith of these men. My question is: When Peter got out of the boat, where were the other eleven? They were still sitting in the boat. They did not even try to get out of the boat. Peter was always going forward, and we often see the failures that came in His maturing process; but who did God choose to stand on the day when the church began and give the message of salvation that brought three thousand souls to God? Who did God choose to enter the temple in Acts chapter 3 and convert more souls shortly after that bringing the number to 5000? After Peter’s worst stumble of denying his Christ, only fifty-three days later he becomes the most powerful gospel preacher of all time because he continued to get back up. I read a saying once, of which I do not know the origin, that reads, “People often miss opportunity because it goes around disguised as hard work.” If a man continues to work hard he will find his blessing. 

     When you make the decision to be a man and do the right thing the naysayers and the whiners will abound just as they did with Joshua and Caleb at the entering into the Promised Land. Jesus had the solution. Look Satan in the eye and say, 

“Get behind me Satan” (Matt 16:23). 

     When I had first gone into the work of missions in Africa the first year was tough. In the church where I was preaching at that time I was despised by many for my decision to leave for the work at that assembly. That killed my plan for support from my home congregation. Some of my own family began feeling the same way. I had to travel to villages by means of riding on top of antiquated trucks. My wife had to return after a short time for a family health emergency. I got malaria 3 times. I broke out with a rash from my neck to my thighs that turned to boils. When I returned from the trip I was asked several times, “Do you think God is trying to tell you something?” At first I would give some apologetic explanation of how it is only a test. Soon, for my own sake if nothing else, I looked point blank into the eyes of those who were mature enough to have known better and said, “Get behind me Satan.” Yes I think God was trying to tell me something. MAN UP! That was what He was telling me. Men do not quit because it is hard. They rise to the challenge and beat it to the ground. When I worked at the Ohio Steel Foundry we used to have our share of whiners, as all workplaces do. There was one older man who, when he had heard enough, said, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” There is an old Chinese proverb which says, “The one who says it cannot be done should not get in the way of the one who is getting it done.” My advice to all the men who have come to a state of whimpering and whining with that "I can’t" attitude is simply, “MAN UP!” There are those who will simply look at these words I am preaching and try to water it down by saying, “Well, you have to use common sense.” Common sense would have told Joshua and Caleb, “You don’t have a shot. Give it up.” Common sense would have told Moses, “You can’t take six hundred thousand men with women and children on a hike across the desert.” If the Spirit of God is moving you to go, man up and go. Do not give an inch to Satan and his whiners. As Paul has said, “… act like men, be strong.”