The Difference Between a Man and a Male

– Image by danssara

Man was God’s ultimate creation on this Earth. Unlike the fish of the sea, the birds of the air or any other thing, man was made in God’s image and likeness. He was given a job to do and had communion with the Creator in a way that no other being could. As we begin to think about that, we start to realize how far we have fallen as men.

Guys, God created us to do work. He blessed us with wives because He knew that, although we would say it, we just cannot function well alone. We need “our better half” to complete us. However, in the course of time, man has turned from being Men to being a Male.

What do I mean? I believe that we have let the culture have its way with changing the definition of what a man is. At one point in time, being a man was defined by what a person did, how masculine he looked, and how he treated others. If you look at history, you see codes of conduct on how a man was to approach a woman, for example.

You see, the feminist movement has attempted to convince us of the idea that women can do everything on their own, and that there’s no need for men. There are whole college courses dedicated to teaching women that they are all that they need, and besides the fact that men currently are useful for reproduction, even that can be replaced with cloning. But that is far from the truth.

You see, each sex has not only its contribution to reproduction, but has a better grasp (in general) of certain virtues. A woman is loving, caring, compassionate, sympathetic, etc. A man is loyal, honorable and strong. They compliment each other.

Unfortunately, in our current state, men are stereotyped (and in some cases they live down to it) as nothing more than male. How many times has the culture looked at men and said:

• “Watch out, young lady, men have to be intimate with you, so be prepared!”
• “They can’t control themselves– those boys are just big hormones!”
• “He doesn’t think with his brain.”
• “He will cheat on you.”
• “Fathers are unnecessary.”

You see, we are constantly given the impression that men need not be anything more than male– we don’t hold a high standard for them! The culture does not expect men to be good fathers– it expects them to cheat, to be dead beats, to be uninvolved. And part of that is because we’ve shown them that we can do a good job of living that way!

How many times is it the woman who has to start (or run!) the family devotions? What is the ratio in our churches of women involved to men involved? Or just the ratio of women to men? Why is it that women are expected to submit to men and we men get bent out of shape over it, but we do not take the initiative to be the leader and love her like Christ loved the church?

– Image by tuonela

Men, we’re the managers of our home– that means that it’s our duty and responsibility to be the leaders and to do what is necessary for our family. That means that we are charged with praying for our family, leading them spiritually and with the physical things. Did you know that it is the men that are held responsible by God for a child’s training? God holds us accountable!

We need to take inventory of our lives and look at the things that God has shown us that are important and we need to do them. We need to show our wives and our children good role models– men that can be honorable, treat a lady like a lady, and are loyal. We need to show them the strengths that we have as men, and teach our boys to do the same.

Men, we need to be those that our wives can come to as a steady rock– a stable man that will not let things shake us and circumstances tear us down. We need to look to God and see how to be meek, yet firm. To be loving, and yet pure and seeking His ways above our ways.

If we are to expect our wives to be submissive and to follow us as we follow Christ, we need to be more than male– something driven by his anatomy thinking only of himself– and start being men– those that seek honor for God, demonstrating duty, loyalty and courage. If we start to lead and pray for our families, we will be blessed indeed.