Bible definition of being a man

1 Corinthians 16:13 (NASB)
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong

Today, in my regular morning devotional, I was reading a passage of Scripture from an old NASB translation that I have in the house. It is one of the many translations of the Bible that I have. I was just reading a long, thinking about the verse and then my eyes started to wonder.

I came accross this verse that I underlined about 15 years ago and what a cracking verse it is too.

Paul is finishing off a letter that he is writing to the Corinthians, and in his final statements he talks about giving, and sending greetings to various people. Smack bang in the middle of all that is this verse. It is like he has this final thought that he needs to share. It is something that he needs to say. It is one of the last things he wants you to remember…act like men!

The Amplified writes…Act like men and be courageous.

That tells me that men are supposed to act courageous. Act like a man. Be courageous. Be strong. Stand firm your faith and be on the alert. The instruction is clear.

1Samuel 4:9 – The Philistines are given a warning:
“Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight.”

Here again – we see a reference that to be a man, you must have courage. You must fight. Or you will become a slave.

How many men in church today fall foul of this? I see many men in the church who are nice guys. Great guys. But they are wimps. To quote a friend of mine, they have no “umpf!”. They have become slaves.

Scripture is clear. A man has courage. What is courage?

The NKJV uses the word brave. Strongs tells us that it can also mean daring and confidence. Vine’s adds the word bold into the mix. Courage is the ability to face danger or pain without showing fear. A man should be courageous. A man should be brave, daring, confident and bold. A man should not shy away from danger due to fear. A man should be strong.

A man should be firm in his faith. He should not waiver in his belief in God.

A man should also be on the alert. How many times are we surprised when we are “attacked”? How many times have we been caught unprepared? Be on the alert the Bible says. When the trials come, stand firm on your faith. Act like a man. Be strong. Don’t be afraid to confront and fight. You’ll win. God will see to it.

This is not the world’s idea of what a man should be. I am not talking about being a “man’s man”, “He-man” or “tarzan”. I am also not saying that you should act like someone that you clearly aren’t. But neither are we to be a “modern man” (aka wimp).

The Bible says that you have to act…you have to chose what you will act like. But you can only make the right choice if your faith is strong. To be a Bible man – work on your faith in God. When you do – all the other things come.

Make a decision today, I will not be a slave anymore. I will not be held back. I am going to act like a man, a courageous man. God’s man.

Your wife will thank you for it (and so will the rest of us for that matter).