We Are Man: Us and Him

Intro

When I started looking at men’s ministry it was because I had become profoundly aware that the man I was is not the man the God created me to be. My God created me to be holy as He is holy and I wasn’t even close. I would read those passages that compared the deeds of the flesh with the fruits of the Spirit and if I was brutally honest I would fall more in line with the deeds rather than the fruit. As I read the commandments, I realized I broke every one.

Today I am in a much better place than I was then. However, I am so far from the bar that I have become convinced that it is not so much about being at the mark than is about being on the path towards it. And what I have realized is that while I may be a long way off, what needs to take place is change.

Change is not an easy thing. As a matter of fact, psychologists would say that at your core you are probably one of 16 basic personality types and those things will never change and will in fact dictate your probable behaviors through out your life.

So here in lies the problem. I want to be the man God created me to be. I want to be the best husband I can be. I want to be the best father I can be. I want to be the best friend I can be to the men God placed around me and the people I go to church with. I want to represent Him to the world I live in in such a way the people look at my life and see Jesus. The problem is, I am a man.

I am trapped in this body. It is filled with temptation and desires, and it is placed in a world that fights to keep you separate from everything that is truly good.

Head Heart Hands

Real change takes some things. Psychology defines it as cognitive, affective, psycho-motor path to learning. Simply stated, you have to know it, you have to feel it, you have to live it. Sometimes however these don’t happen at the same time. But they do follow each other. They also cannot be exclusive.

For example knowing that Jesus is Lord is not sufficient

James 2:19 NIV

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

James 2:19

Feeling that Jesus is Lord is not sufficient

Matthew 13:20–21 NIV

The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

Matthew 13

Doing things alone is not sufficient

Ephesians 2:8 NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Knowing, feeling, doing - that’s the first and greatest commandment

Matthew 22:37–38 NIV

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.

Matthew 22:

Propositional Statement