About.

Purpose.

If there is anyone that had purpose in their life, Jesus was the ultimate example! He didn’t waste time in just three years, Jesus established a message that shock societies to the core. This purpose led to a movement that literally changed the world!

Purpose is the fire inside us all that drives us, gives us a cause to live and calls us to action. Without purpose, life can just drift by causing us to become lazy and content with what life gives us. Jesus’ purpose for your life is not to give you comfort, safety or boredom. He invites us into a radical, risk-challenging, world-embracing, adventurous life that, if embraced, leads us to a life of true purpose. Only Jesus offers true fulfilment which is when we discover our self-worth, significance and security is found in Him only.

This is where the real purpose is. After all, how did we ever get to the place where people perceive the Christian life to be dull and boring? You were born for a purpose – to be the change in this world, to have a cause that moves you to do things you didn’t think were possible!

There is an invite from Jesus to whoever believes in Him. Not to sit on the sofa playing console games and eating cheese snacks, but to be different in a society that encourages us to conform to a basic status quo. As we move to embrace godly manhood, it is key for any boy to realise that the journey that Jesus invites us to be part of is not a lazy, laid-back, boring one, it is a journey that takes effort, momentum and, above all, passion to run the race and fulfil our purpose. 

So, let’s inspire our young men to dare to be different and not play it safe. To be willing to stand out in this world, empowered by Jesus and become purpose-driven men that are passionate to bring God’s Kingdom to a world that so desperately needs Him.

Humility.

One of the hardest and most vital values for any man to grasp is the concept of humility. This is mainly due to the amount of pride that most men have within themselves, which can profoundly influence their actions to appear selfish, aggressive and most of all… stubborn. True humility comes when you are secure in yourself and know your true worth. 

Jesus had humility because he was secure in who he was and had self-worth because he knew his full worth in God. Because of this we see him born in a manure-filled barn, washing the verrucas of fishermen, carrying his own death sentence and dying by the very people he came to save! Most men in the world see this type of humility that Jesus’ life demonstrated as weakness. But Jesus shows us that it is anything but weakness, it is true strength. 

C. S. Lewis once said… “Humility is thinking less about yourself, not thinking less of yourself.” And so often we do the latter, we want to be known by others for our actions and good deeds because then we’ll feel proud of ourselves. This is not humility; it is pride and leads to men getting their worth from a subconscious boasting attitude rather than their creator.

True humility is not being a doormat (Jesus was no doormat). Neither is it something that should give us self-importance or pride. When our young men realise that reality, we’ll see a generation become so secure in who they are, that they’ll die to their pride and start living for others in a way that truly honours the way Jesus lived his life. Not as a doormat, but as a doorway to the greatest commandment… truly loving your neighbour as you would yourself. 

Courage.

It’s a value that all men are expected to have naturally, but if we’re all honest with ourselves, it’s something that isn’t natural, it is something that is discovered. Being physically brave may look like courage but isn’t always achievable. But moral courage is something that every young man can gain and aspire to achieve.

Jesus was courageous in so many ways. Throughout His ministry we can see that He was challenged and oppressed in all He did. He would go out of His way to defend the lows of society, having the courage to stand up for the poor, women and the hated. But this way of thinking got Him in trouble and Jesus would have needed moral courage to continue to do what was right, even if it meant He was hated or would eventually lead to His death. 

Many of us have role models – people we want to behave like. Sometimes this is based on what society or our peers say we should be like. But moral courage encourages us to go against the tide, to stay true to our morals and to God. Jesus knew He had a mission to achieve and part of that was show humanity how we can live better and not stomp on the people around us just to get ahead in life. 

Difficult as it is, it’s important to be men who are prepared to stand up and not to give an inch, not in defence of our own pride, but to be true to ourselves. This doesn’t mean that we’re not afraid. It’s easy to do something when you’re not scared, but in the face of fear it takes heart and guts to do the best you can to defend others and to do what’s right, not what is easy.

Respect.

We all want to be respected, and whether we demand it or deserve it, we get disappointed if we don’t receive it from others and sometimes will do anything to gain it. Around the world, these days young men try to gain respect by joining gangs, getting drunk, stealing, having sex or even hurting someone just to prove they are ‘real’ men, thinking that these things will bring respect from their peers, bosses or partners. 

Even though Jesus was someone that religious leaders weren’t keen on, in many cases you can see that He was weirdly still respected. But regardless of how much Jesus was respected by others, He was always respectful of the people around Him and respected Himself. He shows that when we are not focused on how much others respect us, we start to notice how insecure we all are and how giving respect towards others can be rewarding and releasing.     

The fact is that respect begins in your own heart. It’s found in seeking to be the man that you know you ought to be, not the man that others want you to be. You can tell almost instantly when a man has self-respect. Often, they are leaders, and the people around them are motivated and happy. They don’t need to raise their voice or manipulate to get their way. They easily make friends and are the men who people go to when they need help.

As young men moving forward in life, we want to be respected for the right reasons. We will always gain respect through our actions, but the type of actions we use will determine what kind of man we end up being. 

Control.

Have you noticed how frequently in life losing control spells disaster? This is really obvious when someone loses control of a car or a plane. We see that losing control can wreak havoc. We might say ‘let’s go crazy’ but we still want to make sure we do so within safe boundaries; we might want to go nuts and jump off a huge bridge, but we’d like to do so with a parachute, or a bungee cord attached.

And that’s in part what control is: acknowledging that we need boundaries, that sometimes we need a ‘stop sign’ to prevent us from going too far and doing serious damage – to ourselves and others. That applies to so many areas of life; sex, booze, illegal drugs. Knowing when enough is enough is vital: if you don’t put the checks in place you can end up addicted, and you lose control entirely. 

Whether in the desert for 40 days, challenged by religious leaders or being betrayed by one of His best friends, Jesus was in control of every situation you see in Him. Even when you think He’s not in control, a few pages later you see He knew exactly what He was doing and had total control of the situation. It is easy to lose control, especially when the pressure is on and your world seems like it is falling apart. 

Temptation can come in many forms and whether we need self-control against the things that could rule us or we need to be less controlling towards others in our lives, a man’s got to know what he’s capable of and what’s too much for him, what will do him good and what will do him harm, so that he is not controlled himself. 

Responsibility.

As human beings we mostly grow into our responsibilities as we get older and as guys we can easily avoid it. But avoiding it can, at times, cause us more grief down the line. As an example, a young lad’s dream sometimes is to drive and own his own car. It can be fun at first, but if you are not responsible for the oil change, tyres and petrol, you’ll find very quickly that the car doesn’t drive as well and could starting costing more money to fix. As men it is important that we are aware of our responsibilities. Too many women are deserted by men, and too many children grow up without a dad. I am profoundly aware of the responsibility of being a dad and a husband, and yet I also know that only by the grace of God can I fulfil such a mandate.

For Jesus it was a little different, He wasn’t a husband and He certainly wasn’t an earthly father. And yet He had one of the biggest responsibilities to ever be placed on a human being; saving us all! He embraced his responsibility because he was the only one that could do it, but he didn’t have to. He had a choice.

Sometimes in our lives responsibility isn’t going to be something that is placed upon us like becoming a dad or a husband. As lads, there are times when we have to choose to embrace responsibilities and dive in so we can grow and become better men for the future. We have to choose throughout our lives to be responsible for who we are. If you are doing ManMade, then you have taken a good step in the right direction.

It is really important that a new generation of men take their responsibilities seriously. They are to be godly leaders, loving husbands and devoted fathers. They are to remain the adventurous characters they were created to be, and yet stay true to that for which they are responsible.