This morning as I was having my quiet time and thinking about what I would write in the journals I have for my children,( some instruction for them to get through or battle through in this life), I came across a great few verses in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14:
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
This pretty much sums up the best life a man or woman could live. So I said to myself, “Mark (that’s what I call myself) you should add this to the journals you have for your riblets -that’s what I call my kids-. This is great advice from a great godly man. So I did, and here is what I told them.
Be Watchful
- When you wake up in the morning pause. Ask yourself the question a teacher once told me to ask myself–Why did you wake up this morning?
- Talk to God in the morning and ask him to shed light on your purpose for the day.
- Don’t let your purpose get swept away in habits and rote action. Live purposefully.
- Value the relationships you’re blessed with. Whether it be the cashier at the store, a casual acquaintance, your good friend, or your rib (wife), pay attention and don’t take them for granted.
- Be watchful in the spiritual realm. Be watchful for attacks from your spiritual enemy. Be watchful for the spiritual state of your gatherings. Be watchful for what God is doing and saying.
- Be a man who has an “understanding of the times” and knows what ought to be done.
- At random times throughout the day ask yourself, “What would it look like right now if I was living from my glory as a man or woman created in God’s image?”
Stand Firm In The Faith
- A man’s faith should influence everything about him.
- Realize that the greatest temptation to abandon the faith you will face in life is the daily temptation to live secularly. This is not a gun to your head and a voice saying “Deny God or die.” This is a forgetfulness, an easy pleasure, a natural distraction.
- You cannot fit in with the world and pleasing God. Pleasing God is much better.
- When lies, doubts and fears attack you, you must be rooted in the Word and in intimacy with the Father to withstand them.
- Remember that your faith is a shield for you.
- The more time you spend with your Father, the more of a history of his goodness you will have to rely upon when your faith is tested.
Act Like Men
- Live from your glory.
- Be prepared to offer your strength.
- Help those in need.
- Serve those around you.
- Take responsibility for your actions.
- Speak the truth even when it is not popular or safe.
- Be kind–not nice.
- Be fierce and dangerous and yet gentle and trustworthy.
- Display self-respect and respect others.
- Work hard. Get up look for new opportunities!
- Be like Jesus.
Let All That You Do Be Done In Love
- This is the hardest task you will face in life.
- Read and meditate on 1 Corinthians 13.
- You cannot be a great lover if you cannot accept love.
- The more time you spend with God, who is love, and the more you revel/bask/rest/delight in his love, the more your cup of love will overflow.
- Love the people around you, even the jerks and those who annoy, because they are made in God’s image.
- Love the work you do.
- Don’t be afraid to tell your bros you love them.
- Love is very manly
- Realize that without giving and receiving love you will always be a weak, sad, little man.
- The other option is letting all that you do be done in fear, selfishness, meaninglessness and futility.
- Realize that love is fierce, transformative, restorative, healing, burning.
This is what one of the greatest lovers of history said about love:
Set Me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of YHWH.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
he would be utterly despised.
In His Grip Mark