Traits of Godly Men

As Christians we get caught up in our daily living, and sometimes we forget that being Christian is work. Paul’s letters to the Corinthians prove that when we are saved, we don’t automatically become mature in Christ, but we are babies along with all that implies. We are given certain character traits simply because we are new creatures in Christ because we have the fruit of the Spirit given freely to all God’s children who are joint heirs with Christ. Those wonderful traits are found in Galatians 5:22-23. We know that these are traits that must be nurtured and encouraged to grow stronger within our souls for Paul encourages the Corinthians to “watch, stand fast in faith, be brave and be strong” in 1 Corinthians 16:13 which is a strong indication we must work at our exhibition of godly attributes. There is much throughout the Bible that exhorts believers about love, peace, gentleness, self-control, as well as the rest of the fruit so that the war over the fleshly nature will be won by the godly nature that we have been given as a result of our being transformed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

There are traits that we can deliberately cultivate which will lend greater strength to our Christian lifestyle. Because of the loose, societal morals which are gaining greater acceptance each day, the men of Christian faith have a responsibility to choose a more godly lifestyle than what is basically accepted today. That is a scary thing for men these days especially when they are being mentally and emotionally castrated by commercials and TV shows that come into our living rooms every night. I cannot understand why women sit back and allow this balderdash to happen. But, that’s another rant.

Biblical men can teach us a lot about godly characteristics. Let’s look at a few…

Purity of Joseph — There is no telling exactly how beautiful and exotic Potipher’s wife was. She was obviously spoiled and demanding. Her fixation on Joseph was first aroused by his beauty and youth, but was enflamed by his remaining steadfastly pure. Solomon’s advice to his son was quite blatant, “drink water from your own cistern… let your fountain be blessed and rejoice with your wife you married in your youth… always be enraptured with her love…” But what if you are not married, young man? Then “don’t let your fountain be dispersed abroad like streams in the street.” Proverbs 5. Potipher’s wife wanted Joseph most likely because she couldn’t have him. From Joseph’s point of view it was unholy so he ran away from the sin. No matter what the world says, purity of heart and body is a quality highly treasured by God. When a man pleases God, the Windows of Heaven are opened and blessings are poured out. That is priceless.

Wisdom of Josiah – It would so easy to say “the wisdom of Solomon”, but frankly he may have been very wise in worldly matters, but when it came to godly things, Solomon got a “D” for disobedience. God went to him twice to exhort him to turn from the foreign wives and foreign idol worship and both times Solomon refused. Because King Solomon allowed so much foreign idolatry, Israel fell apart; the people turned from worshiping the one, true God to worshiping wood and stone fashioned by their own hands. Josiah was eight years old when he ascended to the throne of Judah. He succeeded his grandfather, Manasseh who was the bloodiest monarch of Judah and who the Bible says filled the streets of Jerusalem with the blood of her children because he worshiped and caused the people to worship the god Molech, the god of child sacrifices. Manasseh humbled himself and repented from his wickedness; and God forgave him. Josiah followed in David’s footsteps and that of his grandfather’s latter days of reign. The high priest found The Book of the Law. When Josiah had it read, he tore his clothes and immediately set about asking the will of the LORD, for he knew great was the wrath of God. Josiah turned his face from the prevailing wickedness of Judah. He crushed idolatry, sorcery, and put away all mediums. He tore down all the places of worship. But that was not why God granted Josiah peace from the calamity that would befall Judah. God said in 2 Kings 22:19, “because your heart is tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD… and because you wept before Me, I have heard you.” To have reverential awe, to fear the one whose justness will pour forth burning wrath against the wicked is wisdom beyond comprehension.

Responsibility of Boaz – What a sweet love story we find in Ruth who is one of only four women listed in the lineage of Christ. Boaz has more godly qualities than just about any other man. He has compassion for a widow, beautiful she may be, but he wanted her to stay close to his men, to eat with his people, and caused his reapers to leave enough behind for her to glean. This is empathy for her self-worth that she would work for her and Naomi’s food. The obedience of his men depicts a respect for his fairness in dealing with his people, and his leadership qualities. He cared about Ruth’s reputation and had her on her way before his people awoke after the harvest feast. (She had slept at his feet in request of his covering protection and actually a marriage proposal. When he threw his robe over her, he had accepted her proposal.) He made himself responsible for her and for his cousin Naomi by marrying Ruth and bringing them into his household. He took his duty as head of his clan seriously and with great wisdom thus he earned his place in the royal lineage of Jesus.

Honesty of Job – One of the bravest requests of a man to God is spoken by Job in chapter 31:5-6 “If I have walked with falsehood, Or if my foot has hastened to deceit, Let me be weighed on honest scales, That God may know my integrity.” Being weighed on honest scales is asking our heart to be weighed by God’s heart. We all fall short of the glory of God, therefore man can never come up balanced when weighed with honest scales. God said in all these things Jom did not sin. His faith never wavered, his responses to his friends, his responses to his wife, his responses to his circumstance, and his responses to God Himself remained pure of heart. No greed, no deceit was ever found in him. To be able to do this on a daily basis, a man must yield to the Holy Spirit. No person can face Satan’s wiles alone. The world’s siren song is drawing men away from God and toward all the things God abhors as the seven things found in Proverbs 6 such as a lying tongue, a proud look, hands that shed innocent blood, devising wicked plans, feet that run to evil, a false witness, lips that incite discord among the brethren. May no believer ever do these things.

Courage of Paul – No man other than Jesus suffered continually for his faith and for his brothers as Paul did. Certainly every disciple suffered death, and hardships, but the Bible doesn’t record in depth their trials and tribulations except in the case of Paul. Although, other authors such as Polycarp and Ignatius did record the horrors Christians faced. Paul was flogged with thirty-nine lashes by the Jews five times, thrashed three times with Roman rods, he was stoned and left for dead once, in travels often, in dangers of rivers, in dangers of robbers, in dangers from the Jews, in dangers from the nations, in dangers in the city, in dangers in a wilderness, in dangers in the sea, in dangers among false brothers, 2 Corinthians 11:27  in hardship and toil, often in sleeplessness, in hunger and thirst, often in hunger, in cold and nakedness, besides his great concern for the churches for when someone was desperate, he felt it to his bones and when someone was duped into sin, anger burned in his gut. Yet, he faced each day with joy in the LORD, he rejoiced and encouraged all to rejoice with him. It takes courage to fight lions and bears, but it takes monumental courage to stand firm in the faith.

Forgiving of Ananias of Damascus – A certain persecutor of Christians met a certain Savior on his way to Damascus. God was ready for him, and had already forgiven him of all the murders he had committed in the name of the LORD. Saul’s reputation was known far and wide as a most uncompassionate, murderous soldier of the Temple. Ananias was called upon to minister to this fiendish man by order of God Almighty. He stepped out of his doorway full of trust in the LORD, most likely knees knocking, hand trembling in anticipation of meeting the Temple’s Monster. He laid hands on him, spoke kindly to him, and he gave him words of prophecy from the LORD. Forgiveness is obedience to God in more ways than we can count. We are called to it, commanded to do it, given it freely for the asking, and blessed with it from our siblings who obey. There is nothing so liberating or cleansing as giving and receiving forgiveness. The man of God can move mountains bestowing it freely.

Compassion of Jesus – In Mark 10 there is a story about the Rich Young Ruler who asks Jesus what must he do to be saved. When Jesus tells him that he must follow the commandments, the young man said, “Teacher I have done all these things, I have kept them from my youth.” Every person who has tried to be good has realized sooner or later that it is impossible to obey the Law without slipping sideways once in a while. The arrogance and pride this young man exhibited was like a puffy balloon. Jesus could have pointed out each and every slip the young man had committed; and He could have literally sliced him to the core for his arrogance. But He looked at the young man and loved him. Jesus knew he would walk away, still full of his pride, and full of his love of money plus secure in his own wealth. Jesus knew it, but loved him anyway. Jesus loved us while we were yet sinners. Jesus commanded us to love one another, and that the world would come to know Him by our love for one another. How can we disappoint Him?

No one would argue that Jesus wasn't a man's man, or that He wasn't a manly man. His strength abounds in His characteristics. He was angry at injustice, forgiving of frailties, and He was politically incorrect while standing firm against societal wickedness. He dealt fairly with friends and enemies alike. Men of faith have the Mind of Christ, so they are well armed against the wiles of Satan and against worldly pressures. It is never easy, but the battle is most worthy so that a godly man will hear those coveted words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

The faith of a Christian woman is powerful. Even in her darkest hour, she can stand, knowing that God will fulfill His promises in her life. God promises strength for the faint of heart, mercy for the weak, forgiveness for the repentant, protection for the vulnerable. Because God is faithful, every Christian woman can rest knowing that she has put her faith in Someone who will never disappoint her.

Faith is what drives the heart that won't quit, even when the circumstances look bleak. Something inside of a woman of faith says that she's not going anywhere until God comes through. She will not be moved. No matter how she feels, no matter how things look on the outside. No matter what anyone says, no matter how long she has to wait. Faith is what plants her feet firmly on the promises of God.

I'm personally horrified by much of what counts as "progressive" politics. It's taken me a long time to truly understand how deeply corrupted society is by the disease of leftism. I don't know how we turn things around, how we help young people realize that their interests are harmed by the Kool-Aid of radicalism, but whatever the answer, it's a program of civic renewal that should be the cause of any real conservative activist.

Healing our land: Taking America Back to Her Foundation 

By Jenny Gardner Whaley 

The last three generations of Americans simply have not been told the truth about American history as its Christian heritage has been disparaged. 

For example, ask most Americans if the "separation of church and state" is in our Constitution, and they will answer yes. You can scour the Constitution of the United States, and you will NOT find the phrase, "separation of church and state" or anything close to it.

In the Constitution of the Soviet Union, however, the doctrine of the separation of Church and State is found: "In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church in the U.S.S.R. is separated from the State, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of antireligious propaganda is recognized for all citizens" (Article 124). Article Twelve of the 1918 Soviet Constitution decrees that no church or religious organization"shall enjoy the rights of judicial person." Instruction of children under age 18 in religious matters, whether in public or private, is against the law.

While the concept of separation of church and state might be implied by the First Amendment which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof....", it says nothing about the "separation of church and state." And, even if you accept the principle of the separation of church and state being implied by the First Amendment, it's implication is not there to protect Americans from religion, it is there to protect religious Americans from the government.

In their desire to promote their secular humanist philosophy using the power of government, many liberals today want to alter America's Christian heritage and replace it with the 10 Planks of Communism. They want to remove religion from our history and replace it with the Soviet doctrine of the separation of Church and State. They don't want to safeguard denominational neutrality by the state as the Founders intended, rather they want to eradicate every vestige of religion from our public institutions.

In the 1892 Supreme Court ruling in Church of the Holy Trinity vs. U.S. (citing 87 precedents), "Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of Mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian." Throughout history, the U.S. Supreme Court continually cited previous cases in order to maintain our Christian Constitution. However, in 1962, for the first time in American history, the court cited no previous cases and ruled in Engel vs. Vitale that; because of Separation of Church and State, the government needed to be separated from Christian principles. So, the simple school prayer, "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon thee and we beg thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country" became unconstitutional and the eradication of Christianity from public institutions began.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. [Isaiah 5:20]
The Supreme Court, the President, or Congress do not shoulder the entire blame for these profound changes in the American cultural fabric. Far from it. Indeed, past generations of Christians and other religionists who were not involved in society or who sat silently by as the culture embraced the secular worldview are also greatly responsible.
The future of America will either be a national revival or it's total destruction. We're on the edge now of real national self-destruction. The past few generations of Americans have witnessed the collapse of moral and ethical values unlike any time in our history. We're looking at the very strong probability of economic collapse, unless there is a tremendous change. We're going to spend ourselves, tax ourselves into total oblivion.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. [2 Chronicles 7:14]

The essence of what God is requiring of the Christians in America is repentance. If we Christians think that simply by political involvement we're going to turn the country around, we're crazy. If we think that we can adopt an antagonistic triumphalism that says we're going to get organized and throw all the bad guys out and take over, we will be brought face to face with our own sinfulness.

We must recover the original American vision and we must put into practice 2 Chronicles 7:14.

What we need is a Christian nation - compared to the pagan nation we're becoming. By "Christian nation," I don't mean that everyone is forced to be a Christian or forced to go to church or to believe in God. People are free to be Buddhists, atheists, or whatever. The job of government is not to convert or force conversion to any kind of faith. The job of the government is to do for the people what they can't do for themselves. And the job of bringing people to faith belongs to the private citizens, the churches, the synagogues and the religious leaders of our nation. That separation should always be kept. What I mean by a Christian nation is a nation whose laws are self-consciously built on the laws and principles of the Bible.

We have allowed organizations like the ACLU to strip away every vestige of our Christian heritage for long enough. We are tired of them destroying our country by declaring God unconstitutional. Our nation was founded on the principles laid out by the God of the Bible and we're saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Where there is no foundation, there are no laws and what results is anarchy brought forth by moral relativism. Their way has failed. The time has come for us to take back that which once was and let the healing begin.

"Let us look forward to the time when we can take the flag of our country and nail it below the Cross, and there let it wave as it waved in the olden times, and let us gather around it an inscribed for our motto: "Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever," and exclaim, Christ first, our country next!" -- Andrew Johnson

Selfishness

We don't have to look very far to know that marriages are failing in America and most of the Western world.  If you get married today, you statistically have a higher chance of divorcing than staying together.  This is sobering, and merits a good look at ourselves.  Why do marriages and relationships fail?

The pat answer is selfishness.  It's true that we all want to be loved, cared for, adored, and treated like we are the cream in someone's coffee.  These are good and right things to want.  It seems that if people would just shut up and listen to each other, we all really want the same thing.  We all want the best for us.

The hard part comes when what we want doesn't match up with the thing someone else wants.  We might really think someone is wonderful and want to be with them, but they have their eye on someone else.  We might want to be free to play video games for hours after work, and our wife wants to sit and talk.  We might think shopping is no big deal, but our husband seems to roll over and play silent/cold/dead if he finds out where we've been.  We want the same outcome, but different paths to get there.  We are selfish.  We want our way. 

This next paragraph will go a bit further than most will want to read, but bear with me.  We have to look at why we are so selfish.  Why do we fight if we want the same thing?  Why can't we be giving enough to say "I know you I said I wanted to spend that $500.00 on a new sofa, but we can go to NASCAR instead because it will make you happy?"  We can't we give in?  There reason is pretty simple -- we are all broken.  Something in us was made to want to love and be happy at first, but then it broke.  For a Christian like me (and maybe you), you immediately recognize this as sin, a fallen nature, the separation from God and what we were made to be.  Sin has broken us. 

This is the reason we are so selfish and won't ever be completely happy with anyone.  Because we are all broken, we will all fail each other.  That cute guy with dimples and a hot body will forget to call you.  That girl who seemed so perfect also has an annoying laugh and a mother who won't butt out.  Life isn't perfect.  Some people can't get past this in a relationship...they realize they can't get what they want and they leave.  Never mind breaking hearts or kids who won't have a dad anymore.  We have learned to serve our own selfishness.  

In generations past, people realized that life wasn't perfect, but they had determined to stick it out.  They learned to be happy with each other in imperfection.  Life wasn't any better back then, but people choose to not give in to selfishness as much.  I'm not talking about staying through abuse, but just the everyday grating the comes from living with another imperfect person.  The key to their happiness was to look past themselves, to look past their spouse, and to look to something else; God, a cause, the family, their country, something else that was bigger and more important than their own immediate pleasure.
To be fulfilled in a relationship, dating, marriage, sharing a life together or a cup of coffee, we have to realize that this imperfection is mutual.  If we can get past this, I think relationships will be less about being selfish and more about becoming a lover to each other, warts and all. 

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.

How to Treat Others

A young lady named Sally relates an experience she had in class, given by her teacher, whom we’ll call Brother Smith. She says Brother Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons. One particular day, Sally walked into class and knew they were in for another fun day.

On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts. Brother Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone that they disliked or someone who had made them angry and he would allow them to throw darts at the person’s picture.

Sally’s girlfriend (on her right), drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend (on her left), drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of Brother Smith, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing. Sally was pleased at the overall effect she had achieved.

The class lined up and began throwing darts, with much laughter and hilarity. Some of the students threw their darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled with disappointment when Brother Smith, because of time limits, asked the students to return to their seats.

As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn’t have a chance to throw any darts at her target, Brother Smith began removing the target from the wall. Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus. A complete hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus. Holes and jagged marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced out.

Brother Smith said only these words, “ I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'"(Matthew 25:40).

No other words were necessary. The tear-filled eyes of each student focused only on the picture of Christ. The students remained in their seats even after the bell rang, then slowly left the classroom, tears streaming down their faces.