Lord, make me a Strong Man, not a Tough Guy.

I have had the joy and privilege to lead a few boys in a Jr/Sr High bible study for the past 4-5 weeks and as I think really hard on what direction I want this study, and my time with them, to go, I think about the type of men I would love to see them grow up to be. I think about the type of man God has grown me up to be. This is a tough world to live in for a twenty-something year old guy. We are constantly told by society and the media that in order to get somewhere in life and be something significant, we need to be aggressive, selfish, pushy, and sometimes even violent. We need to be a "tough guy". As I look around, it breaks my heart to see the contempt and disdain men look upon one another with. We feel compelled to exude this manliness and toughness that says, "if you look at me the wrong way, I will lay you out." Or we give off this aloofness that makes us seem somewhat careless, selfish. Giving off the sense that we are too good or too proud or too cool to let our real emotions, joy, sorrow, whatever, show through. God has broken me many times, but recently He convicted me of the pride, selfishness, and contempt I have sometimes shown toward others. As I wrote at the title, I don't want to be a tough guy. I want to be a strong man. 1 Kings 2:2, as David is close to the end of his life, he says to Solomon "...be strong, and show yourself a man". David goes on in verse 3 and explains exactly how to do this. "...walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies". You could not ask for a better laid out plan than that. God has called us as men to be leaders, in our families and in our communities. But He has not called us to step on and neglect those we come into contact with, friend and stranger alike, as we do so. I am not by any means saying we should not stand up for ourselves when we, or those we love, are threatened. I would fight to the death to protect my wife. Just remember that God has not called us to ignore, push, and neglect one another, but to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Finally I just want to end with what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth toward the end of 1 Corinthians, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." (1Cor16:13-14) God will make you into the person He intends, if you just let Him.

"The world cries for men who are strong -- strong in conviction, strong to lead, to stand, to suffer. I pray that you will be that kind of man -- glad that God made you a man, glad to shoulder the burden of manliness in a time when to do so will often bring contempt."

Elisabeth Elliot, The Mark of a Man