{"id":478,"date":"2018-05-10T03:24:45","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T03:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=478"},"modified":"2018-05-17T15:50:20","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T15:50:20","slug":"male-birth-man-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/05\/male-birth-man-choice.html","title":{"rendered":"Man Code #1: Male by Birth, Man by Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash-logoSvyatoslav
Svyatoslav Romanov<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the first of (what hopefully will be) many Man Code\u00a0entries to my sons. My oldest son, Zeke, recently committed his life to Jesus and my continued goal is to\u00a0shape him (and my other two boys) into godly young men. If you have sons that you are raising and discipling, please use (read and discuss) these\u00a0Man Code entries\u00a0with them!<\/p>\n

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood\u00a0behind me.”<\/em> 1 Corinthians 13:11<\/p>\n

Son, this is going to come as no surprise, but you’re a male by birth. That’s how God made you. Every time you take a shower or use the restroom you’re reminded that God\u00a0decided\u00a0that you would be male long before you were ever born. But son, there is a difference between being a male and being a man. Being a male is God’s choice. It was made for you. Becoming a man is your choice. No one else can make it\u00a0for you. I recently saw a buddy of mine with a t-shirt that said “male by birth, man by choice” and I think it perfectly captures what the Apostle Paul is trying to say in 1 Corinthians 13,\u00a0“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood\u00a0behind me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Paul knew that there was a time when he had to make a conscious decision to stop acting like a child and start acting like a man. It’s the same choice you’ll face, not one day when you graduate high school, get your first job or get married. And that’s the secret, son: you don’t become a man when you reach a certain age or achieve a certain milestone in life. You can be fifty years old and if you’ve never decided to grow up, you can still be immature and act like a kid. But in the same way, even at the age of eleven you can choose to stop acting like a child and start acting like a man.<\/p>\n

Choosing to\u00a0be a man is a choice you make every single day by the responsibility you take for your actions, how you treat those around you, how much work and effort you put into the task before you, whether that’s school work, a sports game or chores around the house. Being a man impacts how you treat your classmates, how you treat your siblings, how you treat your parents. Becoming a man means a lot of things, and that what these Man Code entries will attempt to teach you. Long ago, God told\u00a0you everything\u00a0you need to know about how to become the man of God you were created to be. It’s all in the Bible, and for each Man Code entry we’ll look at what God’s Word says about being the kind of man that makes a difference in his world. But never forget: becoming a man was, is, and always will be a choice, and no one can make that choice but you. You’re male by birth. Whether you ever become a man, that’s up to you.<\/p>\n

QUESTION: What are some things that you could choose to do that would show you’re no longer a\u00a0child anymore\u00a0but becoming a true man?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the first of (what hopefully will be) many Man Code\u00a0entries to my sons. My oldest son, Zeke, recently committed his life to Jesus and my continued goal is to\u00a0shape him (and my other two boys) into godly young men. If you have sons that you are raising and discipling, please use (read and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[256,2],"tags":[224,252,251,253],"class_list":["post-478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-man-code","category-next-steps","tag-choice","tag-male","tag-man","tag-manhood"],"yoast_head":"\nMan Code #1: Male by Birth, Man by Choice - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Entry #1 for anyone looking to disciple and shape boys into young men of God.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/05\/male-birth-man-choice.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Man Code #1: Male by Birth, Man by Choice - 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Josh graduated from New Orleans Seminary with a Masters of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. Josh has been involved in full-time ministry for over twenty years. He enjoys hiking, beach volleyball, reading, playing anything competitive, and rough-housing with his kids. Josh, his gorgeous wife Robin, his outrageously handsome boys Zeke, Shepherd and Lincoln and his princess Elle, live in northern Virginia. Josh also blogs on Patheos as New Wineskins: an Apologist for the Modern Church and you can find links to all his content on joshdaffern.com. 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