Strong Men, God’s Design ~

A young man opening the car door for you.

An elderly man standing as you enter a room.

Your date pulling out your chair at the restaurant.

Your brother asking to help carry that heavy box for you.

Your dad hurrying ahead to hold open the front door for you.

Your husband offering you his hand to steady you as you jump across a big puddle.

     What do these gestures have in common? Kindness, selflessness, chivalry? OR bygone manners in a progressive society?

     What feelings do they evoke? A sense of being protected, cared for, valued? Or intimidation, inferiority, weakness?

     Was he acting noble or like every other male chauvinist? How are we to respond to these old-fashioned manners? Offended? Appreciative? Is it below us to accept a man’s help?

     How are we to think in a world that expects more of men, but wants none of what they offer?      Who has the right to define us? Society, ourselves, or our Creator?

     Society calls masculinity and femininity social constructs that have no importance; constructs that can and should be defied, but that is where confusion arises. Men and women don’t know how to act or how to treat one another. Sadly, God never intended it to be this way. God purposed for masculinity and femininity to be integral aspects of His creation.

     God placed the desire in most men to protect, fight for, and lead others. He even built it into their physical structure; most men are larger, broader, and stronger than women. They tend to think more logically and are natural problem solvers. This, however, does not make men superior to women. In the eyes of God men and women are equal. We need to stop seeing them as competition. We need to value their insight, wisdom, and strength.

     Genesis 2:18: “And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’” God saw fit to put man and woman together to fulfill His purposes. We must look at men from God’s viewpoint, not the world’s. We must appreciate them and recognize that when together God “blessed them” (Genesis 1:28) and declared, it is “very good” (Genesis 1:31).