Are You This Man?

From our infancy, we assuredly know who our moms and dads are. From early on, each of our senses teaches us the difference between the man, our dad, and the woman, our mom. Even as toddlers, we are armed with the knowledge of whether we ourselves are either a boy or a girl. From this time forward, our interests are influenced, shaped, and formed on the basis of us being born and created as either a boy or a girl. As we begin to individually mature, we intimately comprehend that which perfectly composes us exclusively, whether a young man or young woman. Without a doubt, as teenagers we clearly know the male and female are different. This is no secret to us. At this point in our lives, we understand most certainly we are intentionally created distinctly. We obviously keenly perceive the physical attributes distinguishing us as either male or female. More importantly, we already entirely grasp and appreciate our clear duties and callings that identify us as either men or a women. We both truly recognize our personal strengths and weaknesses relating to each aspect of our lives as either a man or woman as well. We know our responsibilities are well established and plainly defined. Without exception, neither of us has an excuse or a legitimate reason to fail the obligation we truthfully and thoroughly cherish and know to be ours individually and separately as either men or women.

Mankind has been exclusively blessed to live this pragmatically as both male and female. We as human beings are entirely foolish to not live as we ought. What a treasure we have been given as men and women to fulfill our certain designated purpose. We take for granted the fact that we are men and women. The only other creatures on this earth to which we can compare ourselves as human beings are animals. We see them. We notice them. We are aware they are similar to us in many ways; they possess faces, facial features, arms, legs, hair, internal organs, blood, and blood flow, to name a few. We are able to observe these similarities and to appreciate and acknowledge them as true. On the other hand, we surely comprehend the disparity existing between human beings and animals. Mankind has been given the gifts of mind and of soul. Mankind has been given the knowledge of right and wrong. Humans have been given the mandate to live righteously always. Animals are not granted these gifts. They live merely instinctually. They are not afforded the occasion to live securely solely on the basis of knowledge and truth. They know not right from wrong. They have no calling to which they must adhere. In fact, they live consumed with fear. They know not that in doing that which is right they live in comfort, joy, and peace untold.

Imagine that for a moment. What if there were no standard by which we should live? What if there were no judgement rendered regarding our thoughts, words, and deeds? What if we were not encouraged, uplifted, and recognized in doing that which is right? What if we did not experience hardship, suffering, and discipline as consequences of our transgressions? Consider having no purpose to which we must aspire. Suppose success or failure were determined merely subjectively. Assume our true value and worth were purely a direct result of our simple existence alone. How utterly meaningless our lives would be if we did not struggle between right and wrong inwardly. Our lives would be fruitless if we did not consciously continually strive to defeat our earthly lusts and endeavor rather to set our affections and our desires on integrity and uprightness. We are blessed more than any other creature of nature who eats, drinks, and expels its food, simply to repeat. We willingly choose to reproduce to have families of our own whom we can nourish, raise, and instruct to perform that which is honorable and right alone. We do not solely reproduce as a function of inborn tendency to ensure the balance of nature through the existence of our species. We, as human beings, are immeasurably blessed. We are able to think, reason, and speak. We know there is a consequence to our every thought, word, and deed. We know that in choosing right, a reward awaits us. This prize is a peaceful conscience and a life filled with happiness in spite of what we may not materially possess. We know the opposite holds true as well. If we choose wrong, our existence will be unhappy and sorrowful even if we have acquired wealth beyond that for which we had ever imagined or hoped.

The truth of the matter is that we, as men and women, will be able to live together peaceably and joyfully only if we both individually and collectively live truthfully. How is this accomplished? We must confess that we each equally, as men and women, create and cause our own state of continual demise. How is this so? Simply and succinctly put, we are, above all things, selfish. This is most clearly manifested in that we excuse our wrongdoings by placing blame on either someone or something else rather than accepting full personal responsibility for our shortcomings. We choose not to hold ourselves perfectly individually accountable for our immorality. Men and women alike are absolutely guilty of this each day they possess both a heartbeat and a breath. In other words, we are fully consumed with this undeniable truth from our earliest youth till the exact moment of our death. This certainty is remarkably sobering. This reality, it would seem, does not leave men and women even a sliver of hope that they might be able to enjoy life together in harmony. Rather, it suggests discord and hostility between men and women will always exist. Their individual self-interest will necessarily continuously dominate their hearts and minds. Subsequently, they will not seek unity or solidarity of body and spirit together. Thus, division and strife will constantly be present and ultimately prevail.

This indeed is both an accurate and honest assessment of the condition of men and women. It is true that if our lives were only lived in this state of selfishness, we would truly be most miserable, with no promise or expectation of deliverance from this burden of distress. Our existence would be for naught. We would neither experience nor enjoy the essence of pleasure, delight, or contentment in this life. What a shame that would be. What would be the point? Why would we have ever been created? If this were all there would be to our lives, it would indeed be pointless to have been created. Our lives would be inconsequential and hollow. We would live in a constant state of hatred for all others and all things. We would seek only the service of ourselves. Living in this way, we would learn only to continually despise ourselves, much to our dismay.

There is good news, however. Mankind was not created to live and rot in evil alone. This too is an infallible truth. This is evidenced in our lives in that we not only fully understand the uttermost depths of turpitude to which we sink, but we also completely comprehend the extraordinary heights of virtue to which we rise. We know both good and evil. Men and women are given the ability and desire to perform good works and cast out evil from their souls. We are able to vivaciously experience that selfishness leads only to tribulation and death, while doing good unto others affords certain jubilation and life. How remarkable it is to know we are not simply relegated to remain stuck in the mire of our intentional wrongful acts. How exciting and inspiring the alternative. We are allowed to participate in and celebrate the exhilaration and prosperity of executing and accomplishing that which is justifiably moral and correct.

This is an uplifting message indeed. What a wondrous gift only mankind has been granted. It is astounding that we, of the entire creation, are specifically chosen to incontrovertibly appreciate and recognize right from wrong. Thus, our spirits are not forced to ceaselessly bear the affliction of our willful wrongdoing. Miraculously, in spite of our self-absorption we are not forever confined to the imprisonment of darkness. On the contrary, our spirits are powerfully endowed to rid us from the substantial encumbrance of our intended offenses. Providentially, we are pardoned from our warranted immurement to consciously dwell freely in the beauty and brightness of glorious light. Naturally, we are bolstered by such an exquisite and profound truth.

How, then, can a man and a woman faithfully abide together, consummately unified in this magnificent truth? The answer lies in the absolute standard we as mankind have been issued and instructed to devotedly serve. This precept wholly comprises two principles. First, we are required to love our God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Second, we are ordered to love our neighbors as ourselves. Clearly, this mandate accurately and effectively identifies the precise manner in which we must conduct our lives. Implicit in this command is that our priority is not ourselves. Indeed, our focus is centered on our God and on our neighbors. If we follow this edict, we assuredly know, in fact, that all things are possible in this life. It is true that even the man and the woman can experience flawless fellowship together in this life harmoniously. Strictly within the boundary of this standard, men and women possess individual duties to which they must adhere in order to procure this peaceful union to which they must equally aspire. The responsibilities of men are leadership, protection, acclamation, and teaching.

Leadership

The man must lead. Man is sincerely grateful he has been created with the abilities, the qualifications, the desire, and the command to lead. He knows he must never take these gifts lightly. As such, the man is daily committed to continually studying and learning both spiritually and intellectually. To properly lead, he understands his heart and his mind must be filled with wisdom and knowledge. His wisdom and knowledge are never cerebral or conceptual alone. Rather, this wisdom and knowledge are garnished and irreproachably founded only in the essence of truth. Therefore, he must faithfully administer righteous love, empathy, benevolence, and mercy. He, as a leader, surely knows he is personally subject to this standard to love his God and his neighbor, in which he himself constantly learns to grow and diligently seeks to instruct. His foremost concern is truth. Thus, he is not easily inclined to vacillate between right and wrong. His earnest desire is to wholeheartedly shepherd his woman, family, and acquaintances in complete accordance with this standard of loving his God and his neighbor. This is the character of leadership undeservedly instilled in the man alone, for which he is entirely grateful and proud. He relishes this gift. He thoroughly comprehends that his distinctive calling and responsibility to lead in truth powerfully produces the effectual and genuine triumphant peace of the soul. Each man knows this in his heart. This blessing he must wholeheartedly cherish. Men, will you lead?

Protection

The man must protect. Man perfectly understands all he possesses in this life has been given to him unconditionally. He truly knows he is innately unworthy of any belonging he has acquired. He particularly realizes his woman and his family are indeed gifts for whom he, of his own volition, has performed nothing to deserve or procure. As such, he is sincerely grateful for each of his goods. He considers each of his possessions valuable. He enjoys all that he owns. However, one of his gifts is priceless. This gift is unlike any other. This gift is his most cherished treasure. This gem is his woman. To her, nothing compares. She is the apple of his eye. He boasts no other gift that remotely pleases him as does she. Man does possess one other beloved gift. This gift is his children. They are his precious jewels precisely because he and his glorious woman have created them together. He certainly insures all of his possessions in order to recoup monetary value if somehow they are destroyed. He understands he must personally shelter and guard two of his gifts, his wife and his children, with his very life. Thus, he must both spiritually and physically safeguard them with his entire existence. He must warn them daily of any danger they may encounter. He ought to fully equip them with the knowledge necessary to recognize peril well in advance. He must instruct them to flee from and avoid any dishonorable circumstance. He is their first and last line of defense. He must remain faithfully and passionately on guard, securely entrenched between his family and the enemy. His duty is to honorably and readily protect and defend his family from all malice, evil, and wickedness, even to his death. His purpose of preserving truth for his family must be obtained, no matter the cost. He must gladly surrender his life, protecting his family from every sinful influence of every imaginable adversary. He is their refuge. He is their protector. He knows he ought never fail them in this calling. Men, this responsibility to protect your family permeates your soul. Will you gladly perform it?

Acclamation

The man must be vigorously involved in the acclamation of his woman first and then his children. He must lead and protect his family virtuously and ethically. When his family listens, heeds, and follows him willfully and respectfully, he must not remain indifferent or silent. Man is overcome with gratitude and delight when his family loves and honors him by cheerfully following his leadership. For the husband and father to not grab, hug, and verbally thank his family for their sincere, willing obedience would be horribly wrong. He must express his praise for his woman first for the children to hear and see. He must hold nothing in. He must kiss her and hold her affectionately in front of his children. The children must unmistakably witness and certainly know his woman consumes and fulfills him completely. He must audibly and joyfully express from his heart his reverence, esteem, and admiration for her directly to her each day in the presence of his children not because it’s merely his duty to perform so as to check it off his list, but because he is so entirely filled to the brim with passion and thankfulness for her that he is unable to contain himself. There ought to be no doubt in his children’s hearts and minds that she is truly his life.

The children come next. They must be certain of his love and gratitude for them. Men, do not be embarrassed or shy. Hug them. Kiss them. Extol and applaud them. Allow them to hear your adulation and approval. For in this the children experience jubilation in the obedience of their parents. In a father’s outward display of affection for his children, the mother hears and sees his endearment of and devotion to their beloved children. This brings peace to her soul and truly further unites the man and the woman in both their personal relationship together as well as in their duty to parent their children. The acclamation does not stop here. The man must exuberantly laud his woman and his children openly for all the world to see. All he encounters must unquestionably know them to be his priceless and rare treasure. Will you diligently and faithfully accomplish this for your family, men?

Teaching

The man must teach. Throughout his life, man strives fervently to absorb, master, and ascertain as much wisdom and knowledge he possibly can. Each of his experiences teaches him something new. He is constantly seeking to learn and improve. This is a gift unique to him. He does not simply accept that situations occur in his life or around his life merely as a matter of fact. Man is thoroughly engrossed with how, what, when, where, and why. He intensely explores the answers to these questions in each aspect of his life. One can imagine, then, that the man amasses a vast wealth of knowledge in his lifetime. However, learning alone must never be his concern. Rather, his spirit and mind must hunger and thirst for truth in his discovery pursuit. This is necessary for man. His intent and desire must never be to gain as much knowledge as he possibly can to hoard it unto himself for his pride’s sake, to dispense as he deems relevant. Instead his purpose in learning must be twofold.

First, he positively knows that in order for him to be the finest manifestation of who he individually ought to be, he must continually inform and instruct himself concerning the depth of truth in its entirety. This is true of him both spiritually and physically. He must passionately seek to be the very best version of himself always. The only manner in which he achieves this is through his acquisition of knowledge in its purest form. As such, he despises failure in his life. It is true that in spite of his persistent dedication to fully understanding and willingly living in submission to the principle of truth completely, he does fall short. This eats at his soul. He knows he will never be perfect. He hates this. Yet he must never abandon his pursuit of perfection. Truth instructs him to never remain complacent in failure. He learns from his deficiencies that he is certainly not invincible. On the contrary, his deficiencies make him absolutely aware of his mortality. This fact intensely inspires man to live righteously daily while he is yet alive. Man knows he is not created merely to exist. He must live his life vivaciously to its fullest extent regarding each facet of his life. Each of his failures, therefore, serves a purpose. He mightily aspires to eliminate the repetition of his mistakes. The thought of failure haunts him each day. He devours all manner of knowledge to spare himself the agony of failure. Consequently, he relentlessly labors to eradicate any foreseeable shortcoming. His objective is perfection in all that he is. He is created as such not only for himself but also for his family.

Secondly, the man is created in this manner to necessarily teach others this life as well. What purpose is served by man seeking and acquiring such an expansive volume of wisdom and knowledge if he keeps it to himself? The answer is none whatsoever. Man realizes his fulfillment in sharing all of his learning with his woman and his children. He is also satisfied in divulging his wisdom to others in his life. All of the knowledge a man has been able to attain teaches him that this life is most certainly vain.

Although vanity has many complexities, it is truly simple to understand. It is selfishness. Loving God and our neighbors disallows any function of selfishness. This is the heart of the man’s knowledge and wisdom. This is what he must fervidly teach his family. It is impossible for a man to sit idly by as his family indulges in the vanities of this life. He knows all too well that partaking of this fruitless life leads only to heartache, suffering, and sorrow. His own failures have taught him such. His heart rends as he witnesses his family live so. The man experiences the pain and anguish of his family’s shortcomings as if they were his own. Thus, he must zealously urge his family to refrain from all selfishness. He despises the thought of them enduring undeniable affliction as a result of seeking and serving the vanities of this life. As such, he must selflessly and ardently endeavor on their behalf to keep them squarely focused on pursuing only the upright path. His extensive wealth of learning has revealed to him that he exists for his family alone. He must withhold none of his wisdom from his family. His knowledge in its entirety must gush forth relentlessly, drenching his family completely. In doing this, he hopes to live yet another day, every day, so his teaching will inspire his family to live explicitly in the knowledge and comfort of their salvation. His passion is that his family will know this peace both now and for all their generations to come. Men, teach your families.