How often do you honor the men in your life? I mean really honor them? I think we can all acknowledge that there have been times, perhaps even recently, that we have taken the time to point out the failings of the men around us, but I would wager that the opposite may often not be true, and personally I believe that this is something we need to shift.
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:11
Father’s day, which happened this weekend, is typically one of the few times we slow down long enough to acknowledge the men in our lives, and even then our acknowledgement is usually limited to the Father’s. So, today, I want to take a moment to really stop and say to the men of every age, we see you and we honor you.
We see you pursuing righteousness, and we thank you for being an example to the people around you of how you can live a life that points to God.
We see you living out a life of godliness, content with what God provides, trusting that He will supply your needs, fleeing from evil, and pursuing good, and we are encouraged. You show us that godliness is not only possible, it is good.
We see the faith that infuses everything you do, the confidence you have that what you hope for will come to pass, and the assurance you have in the things of God, especially the things that we are yet to see come to pass, and it is incredible. Your faith helps us to step out boldly into the world. We do not walk around in constant fear or anxiety because you have shown us consistently that God can and will do what he promises.
We see the way you love on your community, and how you love your families, both those who are family by blood and those who are family through the spirit, and we are thankful to be witness and recipient of your love. We know that when we enter a new space we can take love with us, because you have been an example of love in action.
We see your endurance, the way you continue to honor God, even when your circumstances might be made easier if you compromised, and it gives us the courage to continue on the journey to who God called us to be, even when things get hard.
We see your gentleness, they way you listen to those around you and respond without pride or anger, not using your strength to dominate a situation. We feel safe and secure around you, and because of your gentleness we know that God is also safe, and we can approach Him without fear.
We honor you men of God, and we thank you for showing us what being a man really looks like. How a real man reflects the attributes of God, even when the world tries to tell you that being a man looks like something else entirely. Men like you bring heaven to earth every single day, and we are all blessed to have you in our lives.
Karla Rose