True North: LIVE Free 30 DaysSample

The Heart of a Man

Do you have what it takes? What it takes to live free? What it takes to lead well? To be the husband your wife needs you to be? To be the father your kids need you to be?

The answer to this question is absolutely not. Not without allowing God into every area of our life. So what do we do when we are confronted with that question, without God as our center, and we feel the answer is an overwhelming “NO!” We Pose. We act like we have it all together and have all the answers because we are scared to death to be exposed that we don’t.

This is not a new dilemma for men. Posing began in the Garden of Eden. As soon as Adam and Eve fell, they immediately sewed fig leaves as covers, as protection, and they hid. Adam was hiding from the guilt and shame of not trusting God and believing that he didn’t have what it takes. That’s exactly what men are still doing today. When we feel exposed, we hide.

You don’t know if you have what it takes with your 13-year-old daughter, so you pose with sports, work, etc., to avoid engaging her heart. You question if you have what it takes to be the husband your wife desperately needs you to be, so you pose behind home projects, politics, strong opinions, or even strong theology. For years I would act one way around one group of people and a completely different way around others.

How about you? How are you posing? Who are you posing to? Why do you think you are posing?

The Good News is that there is hope and freedom by inviting Jesus into those places in our hearts that lead us to believe that we are not enough. Through Christ and Christ alone, you are enough.