I grew up in a culture and environment where being a man was a lot of pressure. A lot was expected of you. I grew up fast, to say the least. I started working around the house with my father at a young age which consisted of construction, landscaping (which I hated the most), and was even dragged into helping him with his commercial floor cleaning business. I got my first official job sophomore year of HS. One thing that was instilled within me was a very hard work ethic.
Work hard, make a lot of money, provide for the family, and make sure you pass that down to generations to come. I believe a lot of men grew up this way. Its no fault to our fathers or theirs, its just the way it was passed down to them right? That seemed like a logical way of being a man around the house right? Work late nights, sometimes double-shifts, act tough, and don’t cry… that made you look like even less of a man.
Without getting too deep into it, because I don’t like pointing fingers or getting into political debates, might I say those are some of the reasons why so many young boys do not have a solid relationship with their fathers or no relationship at all? It's not a matter of providing financially and putting food on the table, we have to get back to the most important aspect of being a man, which is providing for our families as spiritual shepherds.
How do we do that? I’m glad you asked.
Men, aside from Jesus of course, I believe the greatest example of being a man is modeling our lives after King David. Talk about setting the standard. I don’t have an exact formula to give you guys but I will provide three, what I believe to be, key areas of our lives that we should be focusing on. David is a picture of the type of man God wants to use today. He modeled faith and obedience. Isaiah 55:3-4 tells us that God made him a witness (model) to the people, a leader and commander for the people.
My first point is that David loved God. David found his primary identity (his sense of value and success) in who he was in his relationship with God. He measured his success in life by how much he grew in grace, and by the measure to which he was empowered to walk in obedient love for God. Psalm 18:1 shows us his heart towards God where he says, “I love you, O Lord, my strength.” The more intimate our relationship with God, the more we love those around us. God is love and we love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
My second point is the fact that David was, and I’m sure still is, a worshipper. All through David’s life we see his relentless desire to seek God through a lifestyle of worship. David wrote 73 psalms…73! And all of them, not only had power throughout the course of history, but still possess power today. A few examples of David’s affection towards the Lord can be found in Ps. 18:1; 27:4; 31:23; 36:8. I encourage you to make worship a lifestyle and part of your identity and not reserve it only for Sunday mornings.
My last point is that David knew how to war in the Spirit. He understood when to fight and what he was fighting for. He was not only a king and a warrior, but a prayer warrior. We need to know how to fight in the spiritual using the word of God. We combat the enemy with the promises in the Bible. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness all of his responses started with “it is written”.
Men, I encourage and challenge you at the same time to love, worship, and war. Lets make a shift in culture, step out of our comfort zones, and become men after God’s own heart.
Floridon Frangu
Owner
Red Letter Clothing
W: redletterclo.com
C: 682-558-3203