Give it a Rest

"If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will bless you." - Proverbs 25:21,22
"But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you,do good to them who hate you, and pray for them which dispitefully use you, and persecute you." - Matthew 5:44

Men, does someone come to mind right now as you read these passages of Scripture? Is there a person in your life who just knows how to get under your skin and causes you to lose your cool? You may say, "Man, you don't know what that person did to me! No way I'm forgiving him or her!" My friend, the person who hurts the most by holding on to that attitude of bitterness and hate, is you. It will eat you alive. It may even be someone who has long gone out of your life. Refuse to let that pain control you anymore. Release it to God and forgive whether they ask for forgiveness or not.

God sees all and will deal with that person far more in depth than you can. He will bless you though for giving it over to him. Don't forget, Christ was beaten and killed for something that wasn't even his fault yet he chose to show love and pity for his persecutors. Certainly if Christ can forgive them for their cruelty and for putting him to death, you can forgive the people that wrong you too. Don't become an ineffective leader in your own life by letting your pain and the past control you. Overcome evil with good! Overcome pain with forgiveness!

Who do you need to pray for and release your hurt to God on their behalf because of something bad that was done to you or one of your loved ones? Maybe it's still happening even at this moment. God wants you to let go of that burden, guys. Give it up. Don't let that person or situation steal your joy, happiness, and positive outlook on your future anymore. Stop playing the victim roll. Start living free and a victorious lifestyle today by just letting go! This is how you will experience freedom and take another step towards true, authentic manhood. Let the burden of unforgiveness and that grudge fall right off your back as you release it to God even though that person may not deserve it. Don't live another day with that negativity in your life.

Love the unlovely, because God said so.

Keep Your Eyes on the Road Ahead

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and striving toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 3:13-14

Have you ever heard the expression, "There's no sense in crying over spilled milk?" What this expression means and what Paul was talking about in this passage is that there is no sense in dwelling in the past and on what might of been. As men, we need to accept where life has taken us and the consequences of the choices and decisions that we have made that have brought us to this point in our lives today. The only thing you can do now is learn from the past. Don't spend your precious, God-given time living in it. There's absolutely nothing you can do to change it. Keep your mind on the things that you can control. Let the past go. Learn to force your mind to not look back but push forward with the wisdom you've learned from the past. Have you ever heard the guy that still lives in his "glory days" of when he won the state championship or dated the beauty queen? Time to move on buddy; you have the rest of your life in front of you.

Living in the past means that you are not "present" in this moment rendering you ineffective of what God wants you to accomplish through you in this very moment. God wants you to bloom like a tree with where you have been planted today. You may not love where you're at right now such as with your job, but focus on making the most of it and learn everything you can so you're ready for the next stage of life that God has for you. Try to be the best in whatever you're called to do today. Why focus energy on something that you can't change? Sure, it's fine to feel sad and go through the natural process of healing from past situations; this is healthy and necessary. What is not healthy however is getting stuck there. Say a girl breaks your heart, which is bound to happen to every guy at least once or twice in his life but persevere through it. Thank God for the moments you had together and praise him for showing you a new path to take. Keep moving forward as better days are ahead, even if you can't see it now!

Men, take care of your responsibilities today. What are you doing with the talents God has given to you today? This principle is a lot like lifting weights or trying to lose weight. Take it a day at a time to achieve your goals. There's an old saying that says, "Rome wasn't built in a day." The same is true for you in all areas of your life. It's a daily focus to achieve your goals one step at a time and to learn what you're supposed to right now from today's events. Don't beat your self up or lose heart because you're not where you want to be at this moment. Keep going! Excellence is produced by focusing on doing the right thing in each decision you make like avoiding that chocolate cake when you want to reach your weight loss goals. It takes discipline in all areas of your life. A real man MUST learn discipline to be an affective leader!

Looking in the rear view mirror of your life will cause you to neglect what you should be focused on today causing you to miss what's in front of you.

Showing God's Love

“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love there brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” – I John 4:20

Men, this verse pretty much sums it all up for a Christian. If you are not showing love and kindness for your fellow man, then you are not revealing God’s love through your life thus rendering yourself an ineffective believer. The way to bring people to Christ and to being open to your way of thinking is by showing respect and love to them.

For many of us, it’s easy to show love to the people we already like or who are cool and apart if the “in-crowd.” It’s not so easy to love the people who are mean and easily angry with us. Did you know that God commands us to show his love to them no matter how we feel about them as a person? In my experience this doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything they say or do or even have to hang out with them, but you are called to show God’s love to them and you do that through how you treat and react to them. It absolutely sickens me when you see so called “Christians” holding up signs outside of abortion clinics or at homosexual rallies that say “God hates ___.” God doesn’t hate anybody! He hates the sin and it hurts him yes, but he loves the sinner!

Who do you need to call up today or go see and ask for forgiveness for something you’ve said, done, or maybe just have had a bad attitude towards? Maybe there’s someone you just need to go say a positive word to today. It doesn't matter if you feel like doing it or not! Go make things right with that person so your relationship is in proper standing with God. Men, take the high road throughout your life. Show love for the unlovely, the losers, the dorks, the jerks, not just the people who are easy to be cool and friendly with in life. This may even mean saying something nice to that girl who is not the skinniest or prettiest; but just go do it to show her she's noticed and that you care. After all, we are called as men to protect God's daughters and this includes what we say and don't say. You never know how much a kind word or gesture can do for one’s day. On top of that, it feels good to make someone feel better about themselves. This is manly. This is pleasing to God. This is heroic. Be this man today!

You are the only Bible some people will ever read.

No Fear

"For God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."
-2 Timothy 1:7

Men, there is no excuse for you to go through your life scared, timid, shy, and passive. Did you know that God created us to be his warriors? His conquerors? If you live a half-hearted life centered around fear, you will never reach your full potential as you will be stuck living a second rate existence which can take on the form of a "victim mentality" thought process in many instances. God wants so much better for you! Reach your full potential for God and go through life with a Godly boldness for our Lord that only comes from having a personal relationship with him.

God has already given you everything you need. He has given you his power. He has given you his unconditional, never-changing, never-ending love. He will provide you with self-discipline that will grow and increase as you pray and ask him for wisdom throughout your life on a daily basis.

Be encouraged my brother! Life is way more enjoyable when you're free from the bondage of fear as you put your hope and trust in the Lord God Almighty. Today, embrace his power in your life. Don't allow negative people, challenging situations, discouraging mindsets, or bad attitudes to hold you back from what God wants to do through you today!

Fear: False. Evidence. Appearing. Real.

Starting Fresh

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." -Psalm 51:10 (NIV)

Men, here's a fresh day and a brand new year to get started off on the right foot! If you're anything like me then you know how it is to want to start something brand new and input new changes in your daily life whether it's working out, reading the Bible, eating right, doing better in school, etc. Well, God has given you a brand new beginning in this new year to get started and he continues to do this each and every day! Imagine how much further along you can be next year at this time if you just start today and remain consistent in the area you want to grow in!

So many times we fail but the beautiful thing is that God is always readily available to lend a helping hand and get us back on the right path. This verse should be our heart's cry daily! We will fall along life's path and that is when God can work through our weakness. Don't get discouraged when you don't see the results right away after all your hard work. It takes time. Remember, "Rome wasn't built in a day." The same goes for you. Ask God to renew your heart, mind, body, and soul to do the task at hand in your life and fulfill your responsibility as a man as he takes you to new heights. Go ahead, ask him for it. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to ask God to renew me and start all over again in my life.

Guys, you have a brand new year to do big things for God and grow as men. You are tomorrow's leaders. Start moving forward today! Don't get so discouraged or disappointed when you fall, to the point you give up and walk away from what you originally had determined in your heart to do just because the path gets "too hard." There's an old saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going." Start somewhere today! The rest of your life depends on it.

Making a big life change starts with attention to the daily details of your life, one step at a time.