Pain....makes a man...

Isn't there something about suffering that makes up the depth of a man? The real question is, what type of men are we becoming? Through the pain, our response begins to forge the path that decidingly forms the heart of who we're to become.

The first step we take is what we do with the pain...do we confront it or do we run from it. As we run from it, we find ourselves living in our fantasy world not really recognizing the reality of where we live. Due to that fact, we will continue to stunt our own maturity as we are unable to fully confront reality.

However, as we confront the pain, we take a step into manhood. As we take that step into manhood, the question is, what kind of men will we become?

Just because we are growing into men doesn't necessarily mean we're growing into respectable men. Our decisions begin to shape the character of our hearts and so it is in these most opportune situations that we make those choices to grow more in Christ or to grow more of this world.

There are apathetic men, there are ambitious men, there are evil men, there are good men, and the list goes on.

My father is one man that I would love to grow to be. He is a man that speaks straight...no games, no runaround... He is a man of his word, if he says he will do something, he will do something. He is a man of integrity, of trust, of honor, of selflessness, he is a man that God has placed in my life to show me how to be. He treats his wife with love and compassion, he is in so many ways a man of greatness....

I wonder what that cost was? The loss of his father, the experience of the korean war, the immigration to another country right after the civil rights, surviving by himself in a new country that he can barely speak the language, how many times did he hurt?

And so the real question in all of this, is looking at Christ is realizing the pain that He endure only helped to exemplify those Christ like qualities that we all can attest to. His kindness in his suffering, his discipline in the emotional times, and his trust when all circumstances dictated otherwise show an example of how to be.....

And the encouragement comes from realizing that the Holy Spirit is with us to grow us to be like Him. In these moments of toughness, God will form in our hearts a heart of a lion, able to fight, to protect and to lead this generation.

God, lead me in your ways....