The Manhood Talks | Foundation & IdentitySample

Day 2 | Romans 12:2 | Be Men

This devotional works best as an audio experience. Hit the play button now, and read along if you like.

Welcome back to The Manhood Talks. This is day one in your daily audio guides. My name is Kris Langham. TeDese, Gabriel, and I will be taking turns here on the mic as we continue our discussion one-on-one. So to get things started, today I want to give you a clear sense of where we’re going and how this will work.

And I want to start with a verse that we read yesterday. Romans 12 verse 2:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

Catch that. Don’t conform. In our video we started talking about what it means to be a man, and we’re gonna keep talking about it for the next three weeks. But this is about more than just manhood in general. It’s about you. It’s about growing up. It’s identity formation.That means forming your image of yourself. How do you see you? How do you think of yourself and how does that affect the way you live? That’s identity.

And the first thing to know about identity is that it forms and reforms as you grow older. Maturity changes you. Life changes you.

And as you grow and form your identity, my question for you: are you conforming or transforming? Are you fitting your image into some mold that the world offers, or are you renewing your mind and allowing truth to re-form your self-image? Remember, no cookie-cutters. I don’t believe that God made this much diversity just to shove us all back into the same mold for manhood.

Back in our video I asked the guys what it means to man up, and for every one of them, their answer changed radically over time. Doing something stupid became doing what’s right. Demanding respect became taking responsibility. For every one of the men, a transformation happened that changed how we see manhood, and how we see ourselves. You’ll hear some of our stories as we go on, and they’re powerful. How does a young man with no fatherly guidance become an outstanding dad and respected father figure for dozens of kids?

That’s identity transformation. When you see yourself different, you live different.

Listen to this passage in 1st Corinthians 13.

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” (1 Corinthians 13:11).

That’s growing up. We think different. I can’t even tell you the weird things I thought and believed as a kid. But then, I grew up. Now don’t get me wrong. There’s still a goofball kid in me, but who I am is a man. I can be childlike, but not childish.

As you grow, your identity is formed by lots of things. Voices come at you every day telling you who you are and who you should be—friends, teachers, coaches, media—and you have to decide who to believe. Our goal in this series is to help you believe the right voices. And the most important voice we want you to hear is your Maker. How does he see you, and what is he calling you to become? That’s why we’re opening the Bible. And if you think the Bible is just going to give you one more cookie-cutter mold to fit, think again.

This week we’ll open Genesis to see what our Maker had in mind when he first made us. And we’ll find out what happened to mess that all up. As we go, we’re gonna talk about four pillars of manhood that we saw in 1st Corinthians 16, and that we’ll see again in Genesis. So let’s start there today with faith, strength, courage, and love.

Those four are crucial, but here’s the big question: How do you define them?

Is faith just believing something unbelievable, or is it trusting in what’s true?

Is strength the ability to dominate an opponent, or the ability to control yourself?

Is courage doing something dangerous to impress someone, or is it doing the right thing even if no one’s impressed?

And is love a feeling that drives you, or the actions you take no matter how you feel?

As we transform the way we see ourselves, we’re also going to transform how we define some of our key characteristics. So for today, a simple task for you.

First, read today’s verses in 1st Corinthians 16 and Romans 12. If your Bible is paper, underline those four words: faith, strength, courage, and love. Then, open your journal. If you don’t have a journal, use paper or your phone, but get a journal soon. Write down your definition for each of those terms: faith, courage, strength, and love. You can start with a dictionary for help—even a Bible dictionary. But I want you to put it in your words. Don’t worry about getting the answer right. This isn’t a test or homework, and it’s not for a teacher. It’s for you. Write for you. Remember that you will only get out of this experience as much as you put into it. So right here at the start, make a commitment. Invest in this process.

And right now, grab your Bible and your journal, and get to it. And we’ll see you back here next time.

Read Romans 12:2, 1 Cor 16:13-14

All verses are quoted from the NIV.