ACT LIKE MEN

You can see him now, can't you? He is there on your 19-inch color television screen, muscles swelling, all greased up, with a wild look in his eyes as he yells at the top of his lungs in a deep dark raspy voice. "Well, let me tell you something Mean Gene." and then "The Hulkster" proceeded to scream and fling sweat all over the place as he intensely declares to the announcer "Mean Gene" who was interviewing him; how he was about to kick the living daylights out of the next wrestler he faces in the ring and then he would proceed to rip his yellow muscle shirt off and flex really big, one last time to drive home his points. Many boys in America were thinking the same thing as they watched him. "Now there's a real man, right there!" 

My older brother eventually forgave me as he moved on to his newest toy, a huge Hulk Hogan doll; I mean "action figure", boys don't play with dolls. As a matter of fact, boys don't do many things, so we have been taught, we don't cry, and we are not weak. Boys are supposed to shout and stomp and be rough and tough; because isn't that what a man is supposed to be and do?

Regardless if we had a good Dad or a positive role model to demonstrate manhood to us, we all were still influenced by this world's example of what it means to "act like a man." 

The Biblical view on manhood is much different than the world's idea of what a man looks like. The Bible uses this old-fashioned word called meekness. Men don't want to be meek and weak; they want to be strong and in control. But you see, that is exactly what meekness is, strength under control. Meekness is not weakness but strength under control. The man of God is called to be humble and not haughty; he is called to be gentle and kind, not rough and mean. Jesus was the ultimate example of what a true man was and is supposed to be. He had all the power in the universe, but He laid it all down for the ones He loved. He is loving, compassionate, kind, and forgiving. We can learn a lot about manliness from the God who became a man. Perhaps he is the very best Tag Team partner in this pursuit of acting more like a man than any other man in the world. 

ACTION QUESTIONS

1:  What does the world say a "real man" looks like?

2:  Did you have a positive or negative role model of manhood?

3:  How can you flex the muscle of meekness this week?