"Be a Man"

Be hard, be mean, be tough, they said,

And I’ve been all of those,

They said it’s what a man should be,

Not sure who picked or chose,

The virtues that they talked about,

And I saw lots of guys,

Who never could quite measure up,

In someone else’s eyes.

And so, they always wondered,

Do I have what it takes,

To be the man that I should be,

And then there were the fakes,

Who try too hard to cowboy up,

It turns out really sad,

When they’ve convinced they have to be,

Badder than the bad.

It would have helped if Dad had known,

What every boy should hear,

From Dad who tells them they have worth,

And stays close and so near,

That when he sees his boy go wrong,

He’ll put him back on track,

Teach him how to be a man,

And show he’s got his back.

Mama just can’t do it,

And if Dad let you down,

I’ve got darn good news for you,

If you care to stick around.

And it’s that God has always known,

That you’ve got what it takes,

To be the man that others need,

Though you have made mistakes.

And He’s the greatest Dad of all,

His Son the greatest man,

Because of Him you have it all,

According to His plan.

It’s not about how hard or mean,

Or tough that you can be,

But if you give all that you are,

To Christ who sets you free.

And then you’ll claim your manhood,

Your true identity,

The Spirit puts your armor on,

You’ll make the devil flee.

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14, NIV)

There is a lot of confusion in our culture about what it means to be a man. In fact, there is a great deal of gender confusion in general. The Bible teaches us that human beings were created male and female in the image of God. Since God created gender, God can clear up any confusion concerning gender. What we need is the gender surrender! That’s when both men and women surrender everything we are to the Lord Jesus and allow Him to give us our true identity. This is particularly true with men who had no role model and are intimidated by the culture’s expectations. The feminization of men and “gelded” Christianity are satan’s tools to steal God-given gifts of leadership for the church and society at large.

Lord, teach us who we were created to be, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Teal Blake, tealblake.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Teal, and God bless you.