Man Up

What does it mean to be a man? How has God designed us? There is something fierce in the heart of every man.

Every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. That is how he bears the image of God; that is what God made him to be.

See, God has more in mind for us than just being "Good Little Boys".

Men need permission to be what we are – men made in God’s image. Permission to live from the heart and not from the list of “should” and “ought to” that has so many of us tired and bored.

There is a masculine heart and a feminine heart, which in their own ways reflect or portray to the world God’s heart.

God made men to have a desire for adventure, battle, and a Beauty. Its how we're made. Its in our blood. In the same way, God made women to desire to be fought for, to be part of an adventure, and to be beautiful. As men, we need to have a deeper understanding of this. Not that we'll ever understand women. Thats not what I'm saying at all. Women don't even understand themselves. But we need to understand them AMAP, (As much as possible), because too often, we treat women like objects.

Look at Popeye. He's a perfect example. He has a desire to be part of adventure, and to fight for the one he loves.

As men, nothing inspires us more than a beautiful woman. Think about it. You can't deny it. And inside of all of us is that need for a battle to fight. But it’s not just that a man needs a battle to fight; he needs someone to fight for. It’s not enough to be a hero; it’s that he is a hero to someone in particular, to the woman he loves. Man desires adventure, with all its requisite danger and wildness. Its a deeply spiritual longing written into the soul of a man.

The soul longs for passion, for freedom, for life.

Deep in a man’s heart are some fundamental questions that simply cannot be answered at the kitchen table. Who am I? What am I made of? What am I destined for? These are questions we can't answer on our own. These are questions we can only answer with God's help. And with His help, we can figure out what we need to be:

We need to be men. Men who love God, love people, love our wives (someday), love our kids (someday), and seek to be a part of Gods great plan in the world…that all would come to know Him. Men of integrity, purity, hard work, faithful…

*Most of this post is excerpts from "Wild at Heart", by John Eldredge. All credit to him for the quotes in this post. I reccomend you read the book. Heres a link.