It's Valentine's Day. Time to celebrate love, right? Time for us men to come out of our proverbial doghouses and make up for our misdeeds. In a way, it's our day of jubilee, in reference to Israel, where every 50 years, slaves were freed, debts were forgiven, and people were given a clean slate.
Well, at least that's the way it works in 21st-century America.
We live in a society that glorifies women to the point of ridiculousness. Yes, that's a word. Where men are made out to be bumbling fools, instead of the godly leaders we were created to be. This is tragic and untrue.
From the beginning, God has designed men to be in charge of things. In a combination of societal femininity on the rise and normal men screwing up, we have become a culture that often makes men out to be weak and feeble while the females now brandish Beretta's and kick alien ass. Think: Resident Evil. Perhaps a history lesson is in order to explain the beginnings of how God intended it to be.
Last night at the Boundaries in Dating class at Oasis, Pastor Jeff reminded us of the story of Adam. This guy had to prove he could be trusted alone, with the affairs of operating a world by himself before he could be trusted with a wife. Note that his lonely state was only remedied after he had proven himself worthy to lead the animals and take care of the wonderful garden of Eden God created.
Some days I wish we were back there.
In a way we are. Once we become independent of our parents in life, we men must prove that we can be trusted with a few things (bills, rent, groceries, car payments) before we (should) look for a wife. Of course, to say that we have attained these things would be a gross miscalculation of our plentiful shortcomings. I'll call them that because mistakes occur after we have the same shortcoming again, the point being we are supposed to learn from our mistakes. Proverbs is ripe with wisdom on such matters.
No, it is not about perfection, but about the tenacious pursuit of righteousness (Philippians 3:12). Forget the past, look to what is ahead.
So ladies, when you see what we are doing right, let us know, throw us a proverbial bone once in awhile.
Too often in society we mention the flaws around us rather than noticing the good. The news media is chock full of bad news because, truthfully, bad news sells. That is the unfortunate hand we have been dealt.
I cannot speak for all men, but as for me, when I get a compliment, I shall try to reciprocate. I will notice when you ladies exemplify godly characteristics. After all, in all things we are to be grateful. No matter if you have a girl, a guy, or neither, remember that we all can acknowledge each other when we see the good. Happy Valentine's Day.
In today's post-modern cultures we as men do fight an uphill battle in establishing and maintaining our masculine identity. But then as men what should be different? We are designed to fight and overcome to protect those we choose to love and honor. The hardest part of the battle is going against the grain of culture and learning how to be the men we are designed to be. Yes men can be abusive, unloving, crass, self-centered and uncaring. But we can choose to be different after all we are created in the image of God himself. How can we as men individually and corporately live in order to make a difference in our culture and thus silence those who think otherwise?
ReplyDeleteYou are an amazing man of God. You hit this right on the nose. One thing that was left out is that love, respect, honor, value should not be excepted and exemplified on this ONE day of the year. It should be done passionatly and cheerfully, every day of the year. If you don't know how I highly recommend the book "The 5 Love Languages," By Gary Chapman. (There is even a version for singles) And with that said, I leave you with this:
ReplyDeleteThe woman came from the mans rib. Not from his feet to be walked on. Not from his head to be superior, but from the side to be equal, under the arm to be protected, and next to the heart to be loved.