“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13
You are a man. You have been entrusted with leading your family and the congregation. You have found that it is imperative that you remain on the alert to protect your physical and spiritual families. Now comes decision time. But what must you as a man who is doing your best to lead like a man do? You must be one that makes wise decisions for your family (both physical and spiritual). Decisions that are based not on what you want, but what you find in Scripture. This requires the man to be one who knows the Bible. If you are to lead like a man, you must make your decisions based on scripture and stand firm in that decision! A man that will back down on his decisions when they are based on Scripture will cause nothing but detriment to his physical and spiritual families. We must stand firm in the faith!
What are some of the ways that a man might be enticed to step down from his decisions? Outsiders can destroy your confidence in decision-making. Friends can tell you that you are going overboard, your mother in-law might say you are hurting her daughter and grandchildren (if my mother in-law is reading this, I’m not referring to you…love ya!), church family might say you are being too harsh, media and other worldly outlets will tell you that you are old fashioned. Your confidence in a decision can also be destroyed from within. It might be your own lusts, your own desires that cause you not to protect the family and in turn, back down on your decision. How can we ensure that this does not happen to us?
We are familiar with the legend of Hernando Cortez. How in the year 1519 he landed in Mexico to conquer the land, and upon arrival he allegedly commanded his men to burn the ships down. This would eradicate any desire to get back on the ships and head back home. He was there, and he was there to stay.
You and I need to be the same way with our decision-making. When we decide based on Scripture that we will teach our children to love our God (Deuteronomy 6:4-7), that we will stand up to sin and expose it (1 Corinthians 5:1-5), that our family will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15), then we must not back down. Psalm 1:1-3 shares with the reader that a man who does not follow in the pressure to sin with others is likened to a tree that is planted by the waters. We must be that tree, we must burn the ships. When the decision is made to follow God’s law, we must take any doubt out of our mind and stand firm in the faith.
In your family: be the dad, be the husband. Be the one to make the hard decisions and take a stand. In the church family: be the man. Do not allow others to cause you to cower from taking a stand.
Men, lead like men! This can only be done if we STAND.
Morality Check 