We spend a lot of our lives trying to answer the question: who are we? What is our identity, how do others see us, and how do we see ourselves? Let me brutally honest about something I’ve seen in men over the years. On the outside, we often appear like all is good and we have our lives all put together. Heck, sometimes we can even seem confident or, dare I say, cocky. That’s probably why I often hear people talk and write about how men are so overconfident, self-centered, etc. But as I have gotten to know more and more men on a deeper level, I’ve realized that so much of that is an act. As men, we feel such a pressure to perform, to be the sort of man those around us expect us to be. We are under pressure to have the right kind of job, to have the right appearance, to not only have manly hobbies (sports, hunting, motorsports, etc.), but to be good at them, and more. The result of all this is a lot of men who are really broken on the inside. They feel unable to live up to all the expectations put on them by their family, friends, co-workers, the world, and, worst of all, themselves.
Yet, here’s the thing guys, we were never made to run after the approval of so many others in the world. You weren’t made to have to define yourself and to prove your worth. Rather, you were painstakingly crafted by God to be a masterpiece. Check out Ephesians 2:10: For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Just think about that for a second. None of us is a mistake, none of us are designed to be a failure, and none of us are made to impress the world. We’ve been created and saved by God for a purpose. It may not be the purpose YOU want, but it is the purpose God has for you. Instead of running around stressing ourselves to no end as we try to fit into the world’s categories for us, let’s simply be the men God has created us to be. And the great thing is its not exactly rocket science. We simply follow His Word and do good works in our world. THAT is what you were made to do. There is so much good that needs to be done in this world, and each of us has been created and saved to impact it in a new way. God has created you to be a masterpiece. Embrace who you are, serve Him, and love others each and every day.
