Five words that changed how I think about being a man

Hey {{first_name}},

I want to be upfront with you about where this week's content is coming from.

I have been spending time lately reading about men in Scripture  and watching several sermons from men I respect on the subject of biblical manhood. I am not coming to you this week as someone who has this figured out. I am a student sharing what I am learning. And I think that is actually more useful than someone presenting from a polished position of authority.

What I keep coming back to -- through all the reading and all the sermons -- are two verses. Five words that I believe are a complete blueprint for what God designed men to be.

They come from the apostle Paul, written to the church at Corinth at the end of his first letter. Five commands. Packed into two verses. And every single one of them is addressed directly to men.

"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." -- 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Five words. Five commands. A complete blueprint for what it means to be a man of God in the second half of life.

Be watchful. Stand firm. Act like men. Be strong. Do it all in love.

Here is what strikes me about this passage: Paul does not say "be successful." He does not say "be wealthy" or "be admired" or "be impressive." He says be watchful, be firm, be strong, and be loving.

Those four attributes describe a protector. A guardian. A man who has his eyes open to what is happening around him and who positions his strength in service to others rather than in service to himself.

We live in a culture that is deeply confused about manhood. On one side you have men who have checked out -- abdicated their responsibilities, drifted into passivity, let their families fend for themselves while they chase comfort. On the other side you have men who have mistaken aggression for strength -- who dominate, control, and bully the people they were designed to protect.

Both of those are distortions. The blueprint Paul lays out in 1 Corinthians 16 is something entirely different. It is manhood rooted in watchfulness, grounded in faith, expressed through strength, and saturated in love.

BE WATCHFUL: THE GUARDIAN ON THE WALL

Paul's first command is to be watchful. In the ancient world, a city's safety depended entirely on the man posted on the wall -- the one who stayed alert while everyone else slept. If he fell asleep or abandoned his post, the city was exposed.

I believe men are still called to that post. Not with a sword, but with our attention, our prayers, and our presence. The enemy does not announce himself. He works slowly, quietly, in the spaces where men have stopped paying attention.

The five things that pull men off the wall -- pride, worry, laziness, isolation, and lust -- are not exotic temptations. They are the ordinary drifts of ordinary life. And they are enough to take a man out if he is not paying attention.

STAND FIRM: KNOW WHO THE ENEMY ACTUALLY IS

Paul's second command is to stand firm in the faith -- which requires that we understand what we are standing against.

Here is something I have had to learn the hard way: my enemy is not my wife. It is not my kids. It is not my boss, my father-in-law, or the person who cuts me off in traffic. Those are the people I am called to love.

The enemy is spiritual. And when I forget that and start fighting the people closest to me, I have already lost the battle I was actually supposed to be fighting.

BE STRONG: REDEFINING WHAT STRENGTH LOOKS LIKE

The world's version of strength is about position, power, and dominance. Jesus showed us something completely different.

The night before the crucifixion, knowing full well that all authority in the universe belonged to him, Jesus got on his knees and washed his disciples' feet. Dirty feet. Feet that had walked dusty roads. He took the role of the lowest servant in the room.

That is not weakness. That is the most profound demonstration of strength in history. A strong man leverages his strength for others. He takes the lowest job in the house without being asked. He endures pain on behalf of his family without demanding credit for it.

DO IT ALL IN LOVE: PUTTING AWAY CHILDISH THINGS

Paul's final word is that all of it -- the watchfulness, the faith, the strength -- must be done in love.

Love is not a feeling. It is a decision. It is patient, kind, not irritable, not demanding its own way. A man who throws a fit when he does not get his way, who needs the last word in every argument, who withholds his presence when life does not go the way he planned -- that man is not acting in love. He is acting like a toddler with a driver's license.

The Bible says clearly: when I became a man, I put away childish things. That is the call. That is the challenge. That is the blueprint.

This week on YouTube I am going deep on all five of these commands -- what they mean, what they look like in practice, and why the second half of life is the best opportunity you will ever have to live them out.

Watch it here: [Insert YouTube URL]

God bless -- build well.

Kevin

P.S. -- Which of those five commands hits you the hardest right now? Be watchful, stand firm, act like men, be strong, or do it all in love? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.