driven

First thing is first. God created you. Jesus died for you. God requires no less than absolute praise and devotion. So yet again, another song. This is an absolutely fantastic song by a brilliant worship leader, Jared Anderson. Again, just get quiet focus on the lyrics and make them personal for you. The song is prime example of devotion and worship. Use it that way.

I listened to a message the other day by a terrific speaker, Pastor Mark Driscoll. He was doing a sermon on masculinity and men. He brought up one particular trait that all men have in common, no matter what. Men love to build and to cultivate. There is nothing more satisfying for a guy to get something together and then continuously work on it and tweak it so that it just gets better and better. For a lot of guys, it's cars. Faster is never fast enough, not to mention all the care given to make sure it runs as perfectly as it can. For some of my friends I had in high school it was all about computers. They needed more memory, more power, faster modems. For me personally, I play bass, and I am not content with where I am. I want to drive myself to play better, faster, more precise. It's just who we are. But are we leaving anyone in the dust?

Where are our families? God called us to be the leaders of our family. This title as I've mentioned before has been majorly abused. This does not involve emotional, physical, or psychological abuse. Any man who hits, mocks, or disrespects a woman or child is no man at all! Being the leader does not involve forcing your power and authority on your wife and/or kids. When Jesus came to earth as a man He did not force His presence in the court of Ceaser Augustas and demand his loyalty and respect. That probably would have gotten Him a spear or two. No, Jesus came as a servant. To make His point, Jesus bent at the feet of his disciples and washed their feet. This was a point God showed to me a couple years ago. The greatest way to teach, and to lead is by example, moreover by Jesus' example. If we can cut our pride down, and serve our wives, will we in turn gain their respect? If we make it a point to display love for our wives, will they not be so moved in their hearts, they will love us as well?

Back to building and cultivating. Men love their hobbies, that is a universal truth. I love playing bass, others love cars, computers, in the case of my brother in law, comedy. I asked a little bit ago, who gets left in the dust? Hopefully no one. If you are married and/or have kids it is your God-given blessing and duty to build up, and cultivate your family. Fathers, your kids desperately need love and support, as much as they can get. Husbands, your wives desperately need to be loved and cared for. In the movie Fireproof one of the firemen put it this way, "A woman is like a rose, if you care for her she'll, if not she'll wilt." Truer words were never spoken. You cannot expect to be respected without respecting others, and you cannot expect to be loved without loving others. If you care for your family, you will give them what they need, love, encouragment, (in the case of chrildren) discipline. Your family will never love you, or respect you, if you ignore them and play with your toys all day. And you can't expect them to love you or respect you, if you do not show them the same tokens.

If you have trouble or think you have trouble with wisdom and discernment in the boundries of discpline, I strongly encourage you to read from the book of Proverbs every single day. The easiest way to do this read the chapter corresponding with the date. For example, today is the 23rd, so read Proverbs chapter 23. They are all fairly short and simple to read, and you will be blessed by them.