If you search the internet for the top manliest men in history, you will find a collection of heroes who are well known as physically fit guys, who have big muscles and own some kind of weapon that they use with ease. Their attire usually consists of leather, a smart suit, army gear, a vest, or a bare chest. Most of them are nifty with a gun and have scantily clad women following them wherever they go. They are most often the head of the organisation they work for, have something that’s alight hanging from their mouths and drive the fastest car, motorbike, or horse.
They are rarely portrayed as a loving husband of one wife, to whom they are faithful. Hardly ever do they appear to be home in time to help put their children to bed. Virtues such as humility, fidelity, patience, and forgiveness are not part of their persona, and good looks are considered more important than a good heart.
As a man, you have been given the awesome privilege of being head over women. The leader. You may be doing a much better job than you think, but deep down, you know something isn’t quite right. Since you were a little boy, you may have been brainwashed into believing you should grow up to be like one of your favourite heroes.
Brainwashed? That’s a bit rude isn’t it? Nobody brainwashed me, Love.
Okay, sorry. What I mean is, deep down, you don’t always feel like you will ever match up to those heroes and it sometimes scares you.
You don’t always want to lead. You don’t always feel as valiant as you try to portray yourself. You’re in a world that is pressurising you to be tough all the time and that can be intimidating, depressing and overwhelming. It may sometimes immobilise you. Secretly, you may even feel at times, that certain women are doing a much better job than you are and that threatens your masculinity. You may have even given in and decided that you’re more suited to the gay community, because there is less pressure there to fit into the ‘macho-mould’.
Hold on a minute. Men are gay because they fancy men.
Yes, but sometimes they are drawn into that lifestyle because they felt intimidated around women and subsequently less of a man themselves. This especially applies to those who became effeminate before they ever considered having a relationship with someone of the same sex. It just felt safe to be girly.
We females often don’t help. We can put expectations on you by being demanding, we can confuse you by being fickle, we can hinder you by being manipulative, and we can distract you from being the person God created you to be.
Many of you are battling with guilt and feelings of inadequacy because you think you don’t really match up to what society expects. Some of you have spent time in prison owing to a regrettable bad choice. Some of you don’t get to see your kids often and it’s not your fault. Maybe life has not turned out the way you hoped it would and you’re currently homeless, feeling ashamed, betrayed, or angry. Some of you have worked hard to ‘look the part’ but all your crutches haven’t changed what’s going on inside. Something’s missing.
The investment portfolio is doing well, but your personal life isn’t. And of course, you won’t been seen dead dashing to a church to talk things over with the vicar, pastor, or priest. You don’t want to appear weak, desperate, or nerdy and there’s always that fear that you might come out feeling worse than you did before you took the nerve to step inside. There is a stereotypical image in the minds of many men that any guy who is ‘into Jesus’ is a little bit odd and definitely uncool.
This book is to help you stop and reflect on your life, so that you can hear in your spirit, your Creator telling you he sees the effort you are making to be a real man, but that some tweaking is required here and there. Mainly in the way that you think – because Jesus is the manliest man that ever lived.
Back to that list of the world’s most manly men: No matter who the paragon of courage is, whether he is portrayed as the dangerous guy or the selfless vigilante, there is one thing they all have in common: they all have an enemy whose desire is to see them dead.
This is a similarity they have with Jesus, but he handles his nemeses in a totally different way; a way that is not considered in this world to be very manly at all. For a start, he loved his enemies and repaid their evil with good. He forgave those who murdered him.
However, Jesus is no timid little wimp that lets bullies boss him into being pushed around. His wisdom far surpasses anyone who has ever lived or who will ever breathe on this earth in the future. However, you have heard snippets about him being tortured and killed although he was innocent – about him telling people to turn the other cheek when insulted – about loving your enemies; and you have misunderstood those stories, assuming that if you follow him, you’ll lose your masculinity and credibility and become a gimpy little weirdo. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
…and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
(John 8:32)
