The Need for Strong Men

When we look at America and see the moral decline, we can blame a lot of things, but I want you to know that the first place we have to look is at the men. Not men who are not saved and don’t care about the spiritual decline; I’m talking about the men in the church rising up and holding ourselves accountable to lead our families in the ways that God has called us to lead them. Too often we pass off the responsibility that God created us to take on because we have other things to do. “I’m too busy with work,” “I have my social life to keep up with,” or “there’s that hobby that takes up so much of my time.” I’m not saying that these are areas that you cannot build into your life, but we must understand what is of eternal perspective and what is only temporary. As men, we are called to be the spiritual leaders of our families. We want our children to excel in life, but the most important area they need to excel in is learning who Jesus Christ is and how to follow Him on a daily basis. As men, we need to assure our wives that we are in this together and we will take the lead with our families. As men, we need to stand up for Christ when we see other men not living the way they should, loving others enough to pour into them and help them get back on track.

As a boy, I was not the most athletic, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to play sports. I had coaches and other players who would call me out if I was doing something wrong and show me how to do it the right way. They were not doing this to be mean but instead wanted the best for me and the team. I remember one football practice we had when I was a freshman in high school. We were doing a tackling drill where the bigger lineman would hit a running back low and then the smaller safety or corner would come and hit the running back higher. I was a short kid, so when it was my turn to do the drill I was hitting the defensive lineman in the back more than the running back. The coach was not very pleased and told me that I’d be running laps if I did it again. Sure enough, I did it again and I was off and running. I tried to explain that I was too short, but the coach wouldn’t listen, so I had to learn how to overcome my problem. I learned that I needed to get a running start and then jump and launch myself at the running back. I learned how to overcome my weakness to accomplish what the team needed done.

How often do we see a man going the wrong direction and, rather than calling him out because we love and care about him, we just hope he corrects himself? As a man, I don’t want to wait and react; instead, out of love I challenge men today to get involved and help other men become stronger in their faith.