Being a man means many different things to many different people. Again, we need to agree on a simple definition. One simple definition is found in 2 Timothy 2:15 that states “Do your best to resent yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” I think this means a “Man” is responsible for taking care of himself, his family, his job duties, and hos position in society in such a way as to please God. This sounds so simple doesn’t it.
How many of us know someone or are ourselves guilty now or in the past of abusing our bodies with alcohol, drugs, worries, lack of sleep, and stress brought on by engaging in activities that hindsight tells us was not necessary and dangerous. How many times have we allowed our actions and thoughts to place our families on the back burner, so we could chase some promotion at work, try to accomplish some ego boosting dream, or just did not want to do what we knew was right for the family because it cost too much or took too much time to complete. How many of us have called in sick to work to go fishing or golfing, taken credit for someone’s ideas or hard work, or just felt like the company owed us some extras. How many times have we seen someone in need and turned our head, had an opportunity to fix a problem involving our friends and neighbors and bypassed to take care of our own petty concerns, decided to not take part in a community or work program to solve an issue because it did not directly involve you or took time away from something you wanted to do. It is easy to talk about being a “Man”, but it is even more easy to not be a “Man.” Not being responsible and looking the other way is easy. All of us can claim to be a “male” of the species but very few of us can truly claim to be a “Man.”