The Measure Of Manliness

by Paul McGuire G entlemen, what is the measure of our manliness? I can tell you that it’s not tattoos or muscles or a low voice or a fancy car or truck or any dictate of Man: not before God, our Heavenly Father. He certainly loves His boys, but what is He looking for? How about the measure of your faith? I can build up my musculature and look really great. I can get my body painted with decorative tattoos. I can learn to speak in a “manly” manner or learn to give the ladies a thrill and a chill. I can get myself a big truck, a cool car, and some symbols of “success.” But is our Father impressed with these? This is not a critical remark, but I think our Father is not impressed at all with these earthy symbols of manliness. We can take all of these measures, and impress all our neighbors, but fail miserably before the Father.

In the Bible, very likely, few of the men God considers great would have had these measures for manliness: that is, in the equivalent for their times. But their lives expressed strong faith in the promises of God. (Some of them would make current “tough guys” look like total wimps!) But was it their appearance that impressed our Father the most? No. It was their obedience based on their faith, and the blessings that followed came as a result of that faith.

Faith is basically made of two parts: belief and trust. An illustration was made for this where a child was up on a wall too high for him to safely jump down. His father cried out, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” The child had to make his decision to jump based on his belief in his father’s ability to catch him and his trust that he would catch him. When he jumped, he expressed faith in his father. Faith expressed combines these two parts.

So, gentlemen, God’s call and instructions for life go out to us to live purely, to love and be faithful to our wives, to take spiritual leadership for our families, to feed ourselves from God’s Word, and to allow the Lordship of Christ to direct and dominate every area of our lives. By worldly measurements, these seem weak and inconsequential. The world—and the great enemy of our souls—says being strong on the outside is the way to get ahead of your neighbor in life. But our Father says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor” (James 4:10). “Study this Book of instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do” (Joshua 1:8).

You don’t have to climb over or dominate your neighbor. You don’t have to have big muscles, or cool tattoos, or display symbols of “success” to prove your manliness before God. “Humble yourselves before the Lord,” and receive Christ in your heart—if you haven’t. Let the life of Christ, which is the very presence of God, fill your whole life.

The genuine expression of biblical faith taxes our humanity; you gotta be a real man to live out your faith. So, gentlemen, here’s a challenge for us: to let our faith in God become our measure of true manliness.

About The Author

Paul McGuire has been born again for almost 60 years, and has pursued to hear God’s Voice through all those years. He and his wife Teresa of 45+ years are active at Living Word Church in Cleveland, Tennessee. They have two children and four-and-counting grandchildren.