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Key Bible Verse: I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your law is written on my heart (Psalm 40:8). Bonus Reading: John 4:31-38

Now that Garrett, my son, has become a teenager, he delights in tripping his younger brother, tackling his sisters, and punching me in the arm. Pow! "How ya' doin', Dad?" This aggressiveness isn't a learned behavior; it's an innate part of being a man. We're designed to initiate, explore, and achieve. Yet for some reason, men become passive when it comes to initiating positive social and spiritual action in their homes, with their families, and in their communities.

Real manhood begins with a decision to reject spiritual passivity and enthusiastically accept responsibility. Sociologist Stephen Clark says men do this most naturally when (1) it's clear to them that the primary responsibility for the well-being of others rests on them, and (2) they've been trained from an early age by the men in their lives to recognize that responsibility.

The wise father will train his son to embrace three primary responsibilities: a will to obey (God's will as revealed in the Scriptures), a work to do (not just his job, but also in his home, church, and community), and a woman to love.

—Robert Lewis in Raising a Modern-Day Knight

My Response: How could I be more intentional about leading spiritually?

Thought to Apply: God, give us men. A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands. —J. G. HOLLAND (editor & writer)

Adapted from Raising a Modern-Day Knight (Tyndale, 1997) by permission.

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Thank You, Jesus, for modeling true manhood for me. Give me the courage and strength to fill the role You marked out.

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