Today's guest post is by Brent Crenshaw (my much better half)
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
ἀνδρίζομαι
Surprisingly, there are only a couple of verses in the Bible that exhort men to be men. In 1 Kings 2:1-3 as David is on his deathbed, he instructs his son Solomon to "be strong and show yourself a man." Similarly, in the New Testament, Paul instructs the Corinthians to be watchful, stand firm in the faith, ACT LIKE MEN, be strong. The Greek phrase for "act like men" is just one word, Andrizomai. Doesn't it sound manly? ANDRIZOMAI! As if it should be yelled in every guy movie ever made ... especially Braveheart.
Some translate Andrizomai as "playing the man." But at the end of the day, the truest sense of the word means to be courageous.
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
ἀνδρίζομαι
Surprisingly, there are only a couple of verses in the Bible that exhort men to be men. In 1 Kings 2:1-3 as David is on his deathbed, he instructs his son Solomon to "be strong and show yourself a man." Similarly, in the New Testament, Paul instructs the Corinthians to be watchful, stand firm in the faith, ACT LIKE MEN, be strong. The Greek phrase for "act like men" is just one word, Andrizomai. Doesn't it sound manly? ANDRIZOMAI! As if it should be yelled in every guy movie ever made ... especially Braveheart.
Some translate Andrizomai as "playing the man." But at the end of the day, the truest sense of the word means to be courageous.
There are plenty of times when being manly isn't about having the answer or the right skills. Being a man isn't just the ability to fix the car or the kitchen sink. It isn't even being able to fix the hurts or the tears. Being a man means playing the part and not being passive. Sometimes just showing up and taking initiative is sufficient.While I believe Paul is exhorting courage in both men and women, for now Becky and I are responsible for three little boys. Our prayer is that our sons would grow into manhood doing the hard thing, fighting against passivity, willingly taking initiative and living in courage.
As Grant, Ethan and Luke enter deeper into boyhood we've adopted Paul's instruction to the Corinthians as our final family rule.
Rule #4 Do Hard Things
Act like men and be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
God wants us to press into what is difficult. Hero after hero in God's Word did hard things. Noah, Joshua, David, Samuel, John the Baptist, and ultimately Jesus, who gave the greatest sacrifice, they all did what was hard.
God trains his soldiers to be fearless, strong and courageous. Not passive. Or lazy.
Do Hard Things. Take initiative. Be strong. And act like men.
Andrizomai,
Brent
This brought me to tears. (seriously) This is exactly how I feel as we raise our two boys! This meant so much to me as a mother. If we, as parents, do not teach our boys to be the boys to MEN that God has called them to be, then what does that say for us as parents? Oh yeah I referenced boyz to men! Thank you for a GREAT post!
ReplyDeleteOh, this is good, really good. I'm going to share it with my hubby. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, I really like this. And though I'm sure I've read those phrases in the Word, I've never "heard" them. As a mama to two boys, this is so spot-on... "Do hard things...Act like men." I like it.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post Brent! We saw Courageous last weekend...so good! I will share this with Chris.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff, Brent! I pray that my boy will do hard things & be a man!
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