16 Real men

 


John 11:32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”


Why is it that young boys are told to deny aspects of their emotions or actions assumed to be feminine? We tell our child, real men don't cry. Yet here we see Jesus cried. Leave the cooking to the girls. Yet some of the worlds greatest chef's are men. Flowers are for girls. Yet men often make the best gardeners. We give our children toy guns as if it is somehow more manly to play with a gun, that to play at nursing. Jesus spent much of his time healing and none of his time destroying life. Writing love songs or poetry is not manly. Yet as adults men write massively talented ballads and poems, the bible is rich with poetry and songs written by men.  While you may not recognise yourself here, I have seen this attitude displayed by many throughout my life. No wonder many boys grow up confused about their role and expectations in life. Many grow up insecure, confused about their sexuality, hiding emotions. Some men even bottle up emotions of lost loved ones in their life because they need to "man up".  

God gave us emotions to feel, to care for others and ourselves. The world feeds us lies that real men swallow large amounts of alcohol, dress like warriors, face up to any threat like Bruce Willis, listen to only music deemed cool enough for men and never telling someone they love them, or having several romantic relations ongoing at any one time.  

Jesus did not act like this, he loved, showed compassion, healed, comforted and let people in. We are made to be in God's image, therefore Jesus should be our role model, not some movie star destroying an army single handed or the school bully who is hung up on their own identity. 

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