I titled this blog “Being a Man: My
process of discovery of who I am as a man, and what it is to be a man from Gods
perspective.”
It turns out that I have no idea
what it is to be a man from Gods perspective.
The only things that I think I know, are the things that I was taught by
my parents. Let me break down that down
a bit for you. This is what I was raised
to believe a ‘Man’ was:
- He goes to work to provide financially for the family
- Job security is important
- I am the most important one
- Your partner will look after the house and the kids
- Your partner will look after you physically, emotionally, and sexually
- Get a good education so that you can get a good, secure job
- Do what will keep your parents happy, and ‘proud’
- Live the life that they wanted to have, but couldn’t
- Follow a particular type of sport
- Have certain views on politics, other people and cultures, and entertainment
- Love or hate whatever your parents love/hate
I thought that if I did these
things, that life would be pretty sweet, and so that’s what I did. I did everything that I was taught to believe
and do. The above list is not
exhaustive, but provides a basic snapshot.
Now for a while I was ‘living the dream’ so to speak. I was successfully engaging in all of the
things that I was taught to do, and thought that I had a good handle of what
life was about.
Enter God.
The problem with thinking that you’re
pretty clever, is that when someone tells you that you’re wrong, it can be
pretty difficult to accept that what they are saying I true. This is particularly more so, when the person
telling you, is not telling you verbally, in writing, or any other way that you
are used to…..and is also invisible.
Turns out …. I have no idea what it is to be a man from Gods
perspective!!!!!!!
God seems to have very different
views on what a man is compared to myself, and I find that very difficult to
reconcile most of the time. However,
when I eventually to work through some of the emotions involved it does start
to make sense that the way God designed it to be is a more loving way. God wants me, and all men (and women), to
know what love is. God wants me to be a
loving person, but I have to make that choice.
The struggle that I seem to have is that I am stubbornly set in my ways, and don’t want to change. It seems
ludicrous that I readily accept the harder way of doing things (what I was
taught by my parents), living my life with my heels dug in for whatever
reason.
I’m not very far on this journey,
but I’m becoming pretty sure that the things that I was taught are not in
harmony with Gods perspective. With
regards to the above list, I think it should look something more like:
- Discovering and living in my soul desires is important
- Everyone is loved the same
- I am responsible for looking after myself physically, emotionally, and sexually
- I am responsible for looking after my house and children
- Discover the qualities of my soul
- Live my life, and make my own choices
- Learn about Gods views on everything
- Love everyone and everything
Whilst I don’t know much about
the second list, it seems to make more sense than the first one. Anyway, if I find out any more about what it
is to be a man from Gods perspective, I’ll be sure to let you know.
Cheers
Justin
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