sober-minded

Sometimes I think men can understandably be reluctant to seen as overly nice. Niceness is just not thought of as a particularly masculine trait. The fear of being perceived as a sissy has likely spurred many men to say or do certain things just to avoid that label! And besides, everybody knows that nice guys finish last…

But here’s a thought to ponder: do you recognize that while “niceness” is not a fruit of the Spirit, goodness and gentleness are? Those are not feminine qualities, sirs; those are the qualities of our Lord Himself, the manliest Man who ever walked the earth. The daily mortification of the sins of pride, and sarcasm, and biting wit and caustic replies, is as difficult a job as you’ll ever undertake.

So it’s not a question of being a nice guy; it’s more the challenge of being that battle-scarred disciple who goes, once again, into the war room (a.k.a., the prayer closet) to wrestle in prayer; who seeks to kill, as on other days, relentless urgings towards pride and ego and anger; who submits himself to God and looks to overcome besetting sin only through the power of the Spirit; who does it all in the fear of the Lord: and who emerges a fruit-bearing branch of the Vine, laden just a bit more with the aromatic, life-giving fruit of the Spirit, a blessing to all who come seeking, and a future heir of the crown of life from the Lord who sees.

Nice guys may well finish last. But guys bearing the fruits of gentleness, self-control, goodness, faith, joy, love, peace, patience, and kindness always finish well.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 01:07 and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.