Being A Man

There was a time when I was burdened by my marriage and relentlessly stressed out by my kids. I was not kind to my wife, I was annoyed and angered easily. I didn’t want to engage with my kids, I wanted to do my own thing. I was in a deep, selfish rut, expecting everybody to get out of my way - but I wouldn’t admit it. I was in deep pain from a whole host of good reasons, but I let my pain take priority over the good things in my life.

Then, by God’s grace, I saw myself. I was confronted with the profound impact that my negative behavior was having on my family, and I broke. I decided from then on to do everything I could to fix it - starting with myself.

Being a dad and husband can be stressful and taxing, but men, PRESS IN. Rather than resigning ourselves to our quirks, anxieties, or past hurts and making our loved ones deal with and wonder about us...we MUST work on bettering ourselves for the sake of our families. It is VITALLY important. It’s not lame, unnecessary, or foolish to put family first, and do everything we can to ensure that we are a safe and stable place for our families.

Hear me. There is absolutely NO SHAME in going to counseling or even taking medicine if it means being a man, righting wrongs, and giving your family a stable father and husband. I’ll tell you, I’m not even close to perfect at all of this, but with getting healing for myself, my wife and kids are different people now, too. It’s an entirely new dynamic when dad is present, patient, and engaged.

There’s nothing worse, more damaging, or (I can say this from experience) lazier than a man who has made a life-long commitment and then fails to realize that his actions aren’t just happening in a vacuum. We’ve only got one life, and the time we’ve got is grace from God to become better at laying our lives down for our brides as Christ does for the church.