If my calendar could talk...

I have a calendar on my desk at work. I listen to a lot of sermons and have a lot of thoughts throughout the day, so I usually write them down on my calendar. I used to use sticky notes, but decided it would be more environmentally friendly since this big piece of paper is in front of me all day anyway, and blankly ripe for writing.

At the end of the month, I write down all of the worthwhile stuff in a little notebook, and this month's seemed particularly good because I have been listening to a lot of sermons on manhood. Here's some of the stuff:

1. Manhood = we will see, we will act.
2. We are strong for one reason: to give it up for something greater than ourselves.
3. Women's magazines have so many things for them to be doing all the time (how to cook, how to lose 10 pounds by Friday, how to please your man in bed). The reason is because women are so devalued in society, so they either have to do everything to have purpose, or they have to become sexual creatures. We need to value them for being women -- as God created them.
4. Manhood is about initiative.
5. A real man is under authority.
6. REAL MAN (the acronym): Rejects passivity. Expects God's reward - a greater reward. Accepts responsibility. Leads courageously.
7. Men have a will to obey, a work to do, a woman to love.
8. If I ever think that I am without sin, or at least don't sin that often, remember that Adam's first sin was that he stood by idly while Eve ate the fruit. It was a sin of passivity. A failure to act.
9. We love because Christ first loved us. If we are to love our wives as Christ loved the church, then we must be the first to love, and lay our lives down as a savior does for our wives. 1 John 4:19

Men are consumed by strength. Even if we're not physically strong, we desire it in some sense. Or maybe we just give up and accept roles as passive human beings that exist in a state of self-preservation, getting our danger-kicks out in online video games. Whichever you identify with, man is almost synonymous with strength (at least it's supposed to be), but why? What is the strength for? To protect? Defend? Fight? Yes, and each involves laying down our strength for a greater cause. That stirs my heart to purpose and action.

Initiative is something my dad always told me to have, but it's something that does not come naturally for me, making it one of those words I dislike (I also dislike the phrases "unacceptable" and "PB&J"). To hear that it is something I need to have to be a man...well, that's a challenge.

The will to obey, work to do, woman to love thing is an extension of some of John Eldredge's words in Wild at Heart -- a really amazing book.

Number 8 is something that occurred to me in a really powerful way. Not that I think I am without sin, but I usually think that I'm not that bad (probably a sin in itself). However, if a failure to act is a sin, man's first sin in fact, then I am guilty on a daily basis. That cuts me deep.

Most of these thoughts/ quotes are from sermons I listened to on this site, which is an incredible resource I stumbled across. It's helping me learn how to be a good husband and a good man - living and loving sacrificially and for things bigger than myself. This is all part of a reprioritization that's going on, which I may detail in another blog post later on. Until then...