Great Examples of "What is Real Manliness?"
January 23, 2009 by admin
Filed under Scriptural Examples
Here are the answers to the previous post “What is Real Manliness?”
- King David
- Joseph (of the Old Testament)
- St. Joseph, the Earthly Father of Jesus
The story of King David can be a very compelling story for us. It’s likely that each of us can compare at least one aspect of our life to something that David went through in his. We know a great deal about David, but how often do we stop and contemplate his life? His life, from childhood to old age, is a great example of faithfulness, growth, repentence and success. One of the most ravaging evils of our time is pornography (aka: lust, sins of the flesh, impurity, etc.). David is normally associate with a few things: slaying Goliath, writing the Psalms, being a great king and his sins of lust with Bathsheba. When I wrote before that “this man screwed up royally” (although full of puns), he did. The event with Bathsheba shaped his life. He had a choice to make (and thanks to his “wingman” Nathan, he made the right choice). He owned his mistake, made it right and went on to live a pure life from that point forward, leading men and women closer to God for generations after him. I suggest that you read about King David in Scripture. His life can be a great tool in living a life “after God’s own heart”. Check out 1 Samuel 16:19 and on.
Joseph of the OT was a man that could easily have chosen vengeance, anger and retaliation. Instead, he chose faithfulness and reliance on God. Joseph, after living an up-and-down life (from a young boy, to a slave, to a prisoner, to pharoah’s right hand man) is a great example to us of humility, perseverance and honor. He foreshadows our next amazing example of manliness, St. Joseph. Check out Genesis 37 and on.
St. Joseph, the carpenter, the worker, the patron of fathers and the Most Chaste Spouse… our model and our guide. St. Joseph’s task of being the father of Jesus the Christ is as unparalleled a task as any. Can you imagine the immense responsibility that he had with raising God? Not only did he willingly accept this challenge, he accepted the challenge of being a husband to the Virgin Mary. Obviously, I don’t have the time or space to write everything that St. Joseph deserves. Scripture doesn’t tell us much about Joseph, but you can see some of his characteristics in Matthew 1:16 – Matthew 2.
Man Up!
