BEHAVES What is a man? An alphabetical list of attributes to which every man should attain.

 What is a man?  

An alphabetical list of attributes to which every man should attain.

B

Behaves

The eyes of the world are looking for real men.  In the Bible study curriculum “Experiencing God” Henry Blackaby quotes Dwight L. Moody when he says, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”  What difference would it make if I dedicated myself to God in this manner?  What connection is there to God and my behavior?  And what does it really matter anyway?  

I believe that my behavior is a reflection of all that I represent.  If I am an American visiting another country, the citizens there will watch me and say, “Oh, that’s an American.”  As I raised my children, they would look to me and say to themselves, “That’s what a husband and father does and says.”  And if I call myself a disciple of Jesus Christ, others will remark, “So that’s what a Christian is.”

The only way to avoid this is to live on a deserted island.  I used to tell my children that their behavior at school reflected on their Mom and I.  What they do there has a direct connection to what they are allowed to do at home.  We are all walking advertisements for the values that we hold.

The writer of the Old Testament book of Proverbs in chapter 10:4,5 states, “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.  He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.”  In two short verses he deals with laziness, diligence, work, effort, attitude and the result of each of these behaviors.  

Have you seen the T-shirt, “I’m not adulting today”.  Twenty somethings are famous for putting off adulthood until the last minute as if they can flip a switch and all of the sudden become responsible enough to be married, hold down a job and raise children.  The phenomenon of adolescence is fairly new in world history dating back to the industrial revolution.  A college education came into vogue thus putting off earning a living until the early to mid twenties.  Whereas in days of old, young men were apprenticed at the age of thirteen or fourteen and often married by eighteen or nineteen.  Young girls were married by the age of sixteen or seventeen and well on their way to having a family by the time they were twenty.  

God forbid that our teenagers begin families today.  When it happens, they are so immature that the grandparents end up raising the children.  The last literature I read said that adolescence which used to begin around age twelve and end at eighteen now is extended into the late twenties.  All this begs the question: “Are there absolute standards of behavior that have stood the test of time?”  Returning to the book of Proverbs gives us a good start.

Proverbs 1:8 “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”

Proverbs 1:10  “My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.”

Proverbs 2:1-5 “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

There are 29 more chapters loaded with timeless sayings about how we should behave.  A regular study of these verses from God’s Word will radically transform the life of a man.  To reject them is become a fool.  Solomon reminds us in Proverbs 28:26 “Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.”

In my first year out of college my roommate, John, and I did a Bible study together called “In Understanding Be Men.”  The book was based on the verse in 1 Corinthians 14:20 “Brothers, be not children in understanding: in regards to evil be infants, but in understanding be men.”  At twenty-two years of age we were asking, “What is a man?”  The answers will come from the same source today as it did then.  I am still on that journey 37 years later and I am still learning from our Creator as I turn to His revealed Word.  

Questions:

1. Where have I gotten my example of what it means to be a man?

2. What if I have not had role models in my life? Where do I begin to find out what it means to be a man?

3. Who will benefit/suffer in my struggle to discover true manhood?

4. What verse in Scripture can you go to that informs your understanding of manhood?

5. What one thing can I do today to begin acting like the man God has called me to be?

Action Point: Ask another man whom you trust, “How am I doing? Am I behaving like a man?  That should start a good conversation about the criteria you hold for manhood and if it measures up to the criteria in the Bible.