Masculinity. A word we don't often hear being mentioned much these days, I feel. Its a word that has been either forgotten and is slowly fading away from this world. New terms have been coined to replace this word such as, metrosexuals, heterosexuals and other terms as well.
Society tells us to strive to be anything but masculine. Why? Because of how some individuals have decided that being masculine is not enough anymore. The term masculine became boring to them and as such, needed some extra connotations to the term. Thus, you see masculinity being replaced with added connotations to it and inexplicably, new terms as well.
But the most worrying of all, is how masculinity is being ushered out by feminists. Yes, feminists. Those who sincerely believe that, men and women are equal. That, this world can get by without men. Such thinking, has only served to reduce masculinity in the society as a whole. I honestly believe that, men and women are never meant to be equal. Why? We have our own roles and responsibilities assigned to us by our Creator. We are COMPLEMENTS. We complement each other. As we read the Book of Genesis, we will know that Eve was created as a helper to Adam.
"The Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him"-Gen 2:18 And with that said, the story goes that Eve was made out from a rib from Adam's body.
But things get interesting, a serpent had told Eve that it was alright to eat from the tree that God had clearly commanded not to eat from. However, she did. Not only that, she offered to Adam as well and he ate from it. He followed Eve's instruction instead of God's. How interesting woman, even then, had already attempted to reverse the roles of Man and Woman. But my point here is this, that Adam did not take responsibility over Eve. Little known to him, had been ordained great responsibilities by God(one of those responsibilities was naming all the creatures that had roamed the land and this, is indeed a great responsibility as God has specifically given it to him to carry out)
And this, is what is happening today as well. We as men, are not taking responsibilities. Responsibilities that we should be glad to take on and carry out instead of leaving it to women to do so. I'm not saying that we should be dominant over women instead, we should stand out as leaders. Not to shrink from our God given roles but to embrace them tightly. Spiritual leadership comes into play as well. What the bible says about our roles as men to the women. The roles between men and women are increasingly being blurred or crossed over. As a Church, we should not allow the worldly view that it is alright for such roles to be reversed or played out by just one gender. Distinctions have to made and re-iterated.
Elisabeth Elliot defines masculinity as initiation and femininity as response. But she clearly says this," is that a woman cannot properly be the responder, unless the man is properly the initiator. He must take the lead in order that she may follow, as in a dance. The willingness of each to perform the "steps" that have been choreographed gives the other freedom"-Mark of a Man. See how important it is for a man to lead correctly?
At this point, I hope you(both man and woman reading this) reflect the roles you are currently playing. What changes can be made? How can I be a better initiator or a responder? Have I tried to play a role other than my own? Will I be able to stand up and be a leader or will I be able to let myself be led? There are many more questions but I pray, that more man and woman wake up to the idea of what the bible specifically says about our roles. Even if you are a pre-believer, such questions should still demand answers from you.
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Trust
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me" John 14:1
There are times in our lives where we feel that everything seems to go against us. We think about why such things are happening to us and we wonder what is that we can do to change things around. At this moment in time, I am going through such a phase.
For the past week or so, I have been thinking about many things. Things that I find difficult to understand and wonder, is there anything that I can do or should maybe consider changing that would bring about much needed calm in my heart.
You know how people ask themselves, " can things get any worse?", and it does after saying so? Such a outcome happened to me. And with such an outcome comes a flurry of emotions that just sweeps you over and engulfs you. I was filled with various thoughts. I just could not contain myself from feeling the way I did.
A certain incident occurred recently, that had made me question the trust in a certain decision made that I was unhappy about. Deeply, I felt the decision should have been made otherwise. Thus, I questioned that very decision. I just could not understand why such a decision has to be made and not what I explained it should be instead.
I spent some time going over in my head to the point where, I had a headache-literally. I just could not accept it. It was like a giant bitter pill that I had in my mouth that I just could not swallow.
God works in wonderful ways, both small and big. In my case, it was small but it had a big impact. It came in the form of a verse. A short but meaningful verse that spoke to my heart at that very moment. Immediately, I knew what I was doing wrong. I was not trusting in God. All these issues that were troubling my heart up to that point, were not placed in the trust that God will see me through.
The verse was the glass of water I needed to allow me to swallow the huge bitter pill. That in that pill was also God's love and healing for me. I just have to trust that the pill will work. I will admit that it is not easy, but it does help to know that God is with me. I have to learn to trust Him more, especially so in this particular period.
If you are going through such a period, I pray that God speaks to you the way that He did to me. Let's not doubt the trust we have in Him but instead, look to Him for the strength to control the emotions and the godly wisdom to handle such situations that may occur in future to ourselves or even to people around us.
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
There are times in our lives where we feel that everything seems to go against us. We think about why such things are happening to us and we wonder what is that we can do to change things around. At this moment in time, I am going through such a phase.
For the past week or so, I have been thinking about many things. Things that I find difficult to understand and wonder, is there anything that I can do or should maybe consider changing that would bring about much needed calm in my heart.
You know how people ask themselves, " can things get any worse?", and it does after saying so? Such a outcome happened to me. And with such an outcome comes a flurry of emotions that just sweeps you over and engulfs you. I was filled with various thoughts. I just could not contain myself from feeling the way I did.
A certain incident occurred recently, that had made me question the trust in a certain decision made that I was unhappy about. Deeply, I felt the decision should have been made otherwise. Thus, I questioned that very decision. I just could not understand why such a decision has to be made and not what I explained it should be instead.
I spent some time going over in my head to the point where, I had a headache-literally. I just could not accept it. It was like a giant bitter pill that I had in my mouth that I just could not swallow.
God works in wonderful ways, both small and big. In my case, it was small but it had a big impact. It came in the form of a verse. A short but meaningful verse that spoke to my heart at that very moment. Immediately, I knew what I was doing wrong. I was not trusting in God. All these issues that were troubling my heart up to that point, were not placed in the trust that God will see me through.
The verse was the glass of water I needed to allow me to swallow the huge bitter pill. That in that pill was also God's love and healing for me. I just have to trust that the pill will work. I will admit that it is not easy, but it does help to know that God is with me. I have to learn to trust Him more, especially so in this particular period.
If you are going through such a period, I pray that God speaks to you the way that He did to me. Let's not doubt the trust we have in Him but instead, look to Him for the strength to control the emotions and the godly wisdom to handle such situations that may occur in future to ourselves or even to people around us.
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Character
I was reading this particular description of what it means to be a Christian. The following is taken from "Knowing God" by J.I.Packer. I highly recommend this book to everyone.(pre-believers and my fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ)
"What is a Christian? Christians can be described from many angles, but from what we have said it is clear that we can cover everything by saying: True Christians are people who acknowledge and live under the word of God. They submit without reserve to the word of God written in "the Book of Truth" (Dan 10:21), believing the teaching, trusting the promises, following the commands. Their eyes are upon the God of the bible as their Father and the Christ of the Bible as their Saviour.
Christians will tell you, if you ask them, that the word of God has both convinced them of sin and assured them of forgiveness. Their consciences, like Luther's, are captive to the Word of God, and they aspire, like the psalmist, to have their whole lives brought into line with it. "Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!" "Do not let me stray from your commands." "Teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching of your precepts." "Turn my heart to your statutes". "May my heart be blameless toward your decrees" (Ps 119:5, 10, 26-27, 36,80). The promises are before them as they pray, and the percepts are before them as they go about their daily tasks.
Christians know that in addition to the word of God spoken directly to them in Scriptures, God's word has also gone forth to create, and control, and order things around them; but since the Scriptures tell them that all things work together for their good, the thought of God's ordering their circumstances brings them only joy. Christians are independent folks, for they use the Word of God as a touchstone by which to test the various views that are put to them, and they will not touch anything which they are not sure that Scripture sanctions.
Why does this description fit so few of us who profess to be Christians in these days? You will find it profitable to to ask your conscience, and let it tell you." -Knowing God(Thy word is truth pg 116)
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
"What is a Christian? Christians can be described from many angles, but from what we have said it is clear that we can cover everything by saying: True Christians are people who acknowledge and live under the word of God. They submit without reserve to the word of God written in "the Book of Truth" (Dan 10:21), believing the teaching, trusting the promises, following the commands. Their eyes are upon the God of the bible as their Father and the Christ of the Bible as their Saviour.
Christians will tell you, if you ask them, that the word of God has both convinced them of sin and assured them of forgiveness. Their consciences, like Luther's, are captive to the Word of God, and they aspire, like the psalmist, to have their whole lives brought into line with it. "Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!" "Do not let me stray from your commands." "Teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching of your precepts." "Turn my heart to your statutes". "May my heart be blameless toward your decrees" (Ps 119:5, 10, 26-27, 36,80). The promises are before them as they pray, and the percepts are before them as they go about their daily tasks.
Christians know that in addition to the word of God spoken directly to them in Scriptures, God's word has also gone forth to create, and control, and order things around them; but since the Scriptures tell them that all things work together for their good, the thought of God's ordering their circumstances brings them only joy. Christians are independent folks, for they use the Word of God as a touchstone by which to test the various views that are put to them, and they will not touch anything which they are not sure that Scripture sanctions.
Why does this description fit so few of us who profess to be Christians in these days? You will find it profitable to to ask your conscience, and let it tell you." -Knowing God(Thy word is truth pg 116)
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)