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A Godly Man

Proverbs 25-27

I wish we had time to look at every proverb in depth; each has so much to teach us.  I’m sure some of you scratch your head at times wondering why I chose a particular verse on which to comment rather than others; particularly when I repeat topics.  I must say that I try to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as I sit down to write each post.  My prayer prior to reading is that the Lord will open my heart to what He would have me learn and what He would have me write in the blog that He might be glorified in me and through me and in this blog and through this blog.  It is my hope that more times than not He finds me faithful in writing what He would have me write.  When my posting is poor it is because I have failed in my attempt to follow His leading.

That said, there are three different proverbs that seemed to stand out from the rest today, though all of them were of great profit.  The first that really grabbed me was this.

Proverbs 25:14

“Like clouds and wind without rain
is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.”

Humility is a trait of a Christian.  Boasting is a symptom of self-centeredness.  Though a boasting Christian is of concern in that they are lacking in spiritual maturity, I am more concerned about the Christian who actually has a gift which he keeps to himself.  Whether you boast about a gift you have or not, the possession of a gift from God requires the possessor to use it to the purpose for which it was given.  If God has given you a gift, and the scriptures tell us that all who accept Christ are given gifts, then He intends you to use if in kingdom building.  What good are clouds and wind if they bring not rain?  What good are you if God has given you a gift you do not use to His purpose?

Similarly we can have a problem in that we want to choose which gifts we have.  Often we will ignore that which God has given us because we prefer something else.  Some will claim a gift they do not have.  This results in a number of problems.  To arbitrarily claim a gift from God is to set ourselves above God; doing so places us in the driver’s seat, not God.  There is an element of boasting here in that claiming something that is not ours is a self-centered, self-aggrandizing act.  There is no humility in such an act.  We are attempting to elevate ourselves in the eyes of others and ourselves.  Our hearts are certainly not in the right place.

Another problem here is that we are not accepting our appointed place in the work of building God’s kingdom.  God’s will is going to get done, but I can’t help but wonder what is missed by abdicating our responsibilities.  More often than not I believe the person who neglected their gift is the one who lost the most.  Do you know how God has gifted you?  If not you should make an effort to find out.  There a number of resources you can find at your local Christian book store.  Go ask someone at one of these stores where these resources are located and get to work.

One of the gifts that God gives to all Christians is self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Now look at this proverb:

Proverbs 25:28

“A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.”

This proverb stood out because I think we men have a challenge with self-control.  Some of us might have a challenge in controlling what we eat or drink.  Others may have a challenge in what they view.  I suspect a large number of us have challenges in controlling our anger.  I’ve heard Pastor Jim say on a number of occasions that the one emotion men are comfortable in expressing is anger.  Our society has brought us up to believe that the “lesser” emotions are unmanly, and yet God gave us those emotions.  What are we to do with them?  Since anger is somehow viewed as manly all emotions are funneled to this outlet.

Frustration, disappointment, fear, hurt, and the like all come out as anger.  Such a redirection of emotion is unhealthy.  The problem with this is that we are not taking control of our emotions.  We are allowing some societal programming to dictate our emotional responses.  We also are letting anger run amok in our lives trampling down the ones closes to us.  Do you see how a lack of control leaves a man as a broken city?  An inability to control our anger, or our other impulses, makes us vulnerable to attack.  As Peter said:

1 Peter 5:8

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Take control of your emotions and your impulses.  The devil does indeed prowl around looking for someone to devour.  If you lack self-control you lack the walls necessary to defend yourself.

Finally, we’ve all heard this one:

Proverbs 26:17

“Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.”

Iron sharpens iron.  We know that one don’t we?  This is a call to fellowship; a call to accountability.  Do we hearken to that call?  Remember that knowledge is not wisdom.  We can know something and still not act upon that knowledge.  Wisdom is acting on knowledge rightly.  We know that we are to fellowship.  We know as men that we are to hold each other accountable; but do we?  Do you have an accountability partner?  Do you have men that sharpen you?  To me this proverb ties in with Proverbs 25:28.  We are in a battle.  We do need our walls up, but we also need sharp swords.  We must be prepared and that preparation includes holding each other accountable.  Brother, if you don’t already have one, get yourself an accountability partner.  You need to be proactive in this process.  Simply showing up at church on Sunday is not enough.  You need to start talking with Godly men specifically for the purpose of holding yourself accountable.  That doesn’t happen by accident.

Being a godly man isn’t for cowards and weaklings.  It’s a lot of hard work.  Every day we are to be more like Christ.  Let us continue to work toward that goal.  Make the effort.  Be the man God created you to be!

Have a godly man kind of day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!