Proverbs 1:5New International Version (NIV)
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
The gateway, the beginning step to authentic manhood is submission. It is allowing the Creator of the Universe to be in control of your life.
When I wrote down this statement, my first inclination was ‘Heavy’, but think about it for a moment. True manhood has a price, and that is submission. We learn it when we grow up from our parents, going to school, and taking on a job. It al requires submission.
The problem with us as men is that we like to fight it. We want control like a wild stallion that runs free, has never been bridled, is head of a heard, and leads with abandonment. A stallion is without submission until it is bridled.
I do not know if many of you remember the movie, ‘Man from Snowy River’. I loved that movie. A man by the name of Jim tried to capture this one stallion, and in the process his father was killed. He was forced off the mountain to work for a man in the valley who was a cattle rancher.
This forced young Jim to learn submission. His whole quest in life was to get that stallion. Along the way he made friends, worked hard, and fell in love with a young girl.
Finally, as destiny had it, this young man gets his chance. The only problem was he had lost respect from the other men, except for one man and his young love. He chased after the herd of wild horses and catches the lead stallion.
He gets an opportunity to catch that stallion and demand that horse’s submission. When he conquered the head stallion, he had conquered the herd. A great story of submission of not only the horse, but within the young man. It was at that point of submission that he grew in strength and courage.
That is how it is with men. In order to lead, you must submit. Authentic manhood requires submission to the Father. The book of Proverbs is loaded with wisdom in how to be an authentic man of God.
Submission is not weakness. It is redirected strength from the Father. The Bible is full of men who submitted to the Father, and in doing so, they found authentic manhood.
Strength and Courage
Michael
