Dear Man: That’s My Homie

Proverbs 13:20- Walk with wise men, and thou shalt be wise, but the companion of fools shall smite for it.

Hosea 4:6- My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou has rejected knowledge I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

The people that will have the most influence in your life are those who you choose to be in your inner circle.  If you hang around five foolish friends that are not helping you grow in your walk with Christ then you are heading down a path of destruction.  The bible gives us clear instructions in the book of proverbs that we are to walk with wise men so that we can gain more wisdom.  Men have you ever had a friend who always gives you advice about relationships, but they can’t seem to keep a woman? Or have you ever gotten advice from your homeboy about the special lady in your life when you know he has 5 chicks on the side, and he is not committed in his relationship?  Would you go to a veterinarian if you were having heart problems?  Or would you go to your mechanic if your dog were sick? Both of these situations sound crazy right?  Then why do we continue to reach out to our homeboys who have no spiritual wisdom?  When you are walking in the council of your ungodly homies, your spiritual growth will be hampered.  Some of your homeboys now are encouraging you now to have selfish ambition, seek pleasures of the flesh, and live a life not pleasing to God.  Today I want to encourage us Men to examine our male friendships.  God has called us to walk in the counsel of the Godly!  Men we are called to be leaders, and there are people who are depending on us to lead properly.  So the next time that you need advice about a spiritual matter, make sure that you are seeking Godly wisdom.  Our so-called homeboys will lead us astray and down a path of destruction!

Guest Blogger: Reggie Stroble

Men I would love to connect with you on twitter, follow me @He_inspireyouth (Instagram I_inspireyouth)

Being a single man can be pretty difficult when you’re just trying to live everyday life - but what’s even worse is being a CHRISTIAN man in this society. Every bit of advertisement and entertainment is sex driven, the clothes that are made for women are designed to show off their bodies, and if you show ANY type of interest in a female, they’re calling you thirsty!! Do I look like I need a drink of water?!?!? But its not all on the ladies, the natural drive of pursuit that resides in a man’s flesh does more than just give brothers a bad name: It sometimes affirms it. When I found myself reeling in my own flesh, God gave me a great revelation that helped me get a new view when it comes to the female population.

You see, the world’s ways of dating/flirting/courting does nothing but derail us from the true track God designed our relationships to be on. Men, our flesh’s natural inclination is to do it the world’s way. We like the feeling of flirting, we like to spit game for the fun of it, we like the feeling of "The Hunt", but many never think of the consequences of any of these games. We can look around at the droves of bitter women and broken families to see the results of dating the world’s way. Which leads me to say this public service announcement:

*Brothers: There is nothing worse than sending mixed signals to a sister in Christ for the sake of flexing your own muscles. You’re leading them on and that does MAJOR damage to them. If you haven’t been praying about it/her or fasting about it/her, DON’T DO IT*

The path we travel is narrow, so it only makes sense that for our relationships to be narrow too - but for our own good. And when it boils down to it gentlemen, there are only 2 specific ways that we are to interact with women in our lives (barring family members like mothers/aunts/grandmothers/cousins). When you see/meet a woman, no matter what you feel about them, they are to fall into both of these categories and should be treated as such.

#1. Daughters of The Most High God

I believe every man has a special type of love that comes in their heart whenever they see a cute lil girl, whether you want to admit it or not fellas. They may be a piece of work, and you may say "See, that’s why I don't want kids" when they get to screaming, but I have talked to enough fathers of daughters to know how each and every one of their hearts melted the moment they held their baby girl for the first time. That was their princess. That IS STILL their princess. And I am certain that God looks at HIS daughters the exact same way, just a LOT more intense. The love a father has for a son is much different than for a daughter. The love for his son is strong; its proud. That kind of love makes him beam with pride and stick out his chest. The love for a daughter makes him want to watch over her, give her the world, protect her from everything, and dismember anything that lays a finger on her.

Imagine you have a beautiful, 20 something daughter; you got her a nice dress, she looks so beautiful; ready to go out and have a great day, and you see a guy walk by and look at her, staring at her body like he’s ready to devour a steak. That might get you a bit upset, doesn’t it?

Imagine how God feels when YOU look at HIS daughters like that….ya think The Ruler of the universe feels like raining all of the wrath of heaven down on you?

You think the only reason you’re alive today is because of the grace of Jesus’ blood?! That woman that you see, whether she’s saved or not, should be viewed as a daughter of The Most High God in your eyes and should be treated as such. She could be a prostitute, a teacher, an office worker, a doctor, a college student, or a crazy woman on the street - Your job is to honor her with your eyes, with your thoughts, with your actions, with your words, and with the respect of someone who loves her father more than he loves his flesh.

Which leads to

#2 Your Sister in Christ.

Are you married to her? No? Then she is your sister in Christ. Point Blank Period.

You know that cliché going around the social media sites that says "A woman’s heart needs to be so deep in God that a man needs to go to Him to find it"? Well for the men it should be "A man’s vision should be so focused on God, that The Lord will have to grab the man by his head and turn it so he can see the woman that was created for him."

Every woman in your life who has dedicated her life to Jesus is your sister in Christ and you need to look at her as your sister. For those of you with sisters reading this: Would you ever look at your sister like you wanted to get with her? EXACTLY! That’s how you need to look at your sisters in Christ.

Now I can already hear you

"I don’t know man. That’s not even possible."

"How am I supposed to find a wife if I look at all of them like sisters?!?!?!"

“The girl’s man…they just look to good!! Etc etc blah blah"

I’m not saying you’ll never have any type of romantic feelings towards any woman. That would be stupid to say. But much like the bible tells us to crucify our flesh and obey the will of God, we are to override our flesh’s natural inclination to ogle and visually landscape our sisters, to treat them in a way that is biblically mandated.

While siblings get on each others nerves, within a family that functions the way God intended (and sometimes not the way he intended), the love between a brother and sister is as tight of a bond as can be. I know many friends of mine would do anything to protect his sisters, no matter how much they got on his nerves. Family, REAL family, protects family at all costs and does nothing to hurt them intentionally. If you keep your eyes on the Lord and seek him above everything, your wife will come. There will not be an hour added to your life by worrying or pondering on "is that her…no, maybe its her…God is it her?" Stop. No matter how beautiful she may be, your first thought is to be: "How can I love her like Jesus would? How can I love her like my sister in Christ?" You cannot rush God’s timing, and if my life is any example: Until you get this right, He’s not going to bring her anywhere near you.

If she’s not your wife, then she’s your sister. And if she’s your sister, then she is a daughter of The Lord and deserves that kind of respect and honor. God will reveal her to you in His time.

Because really, if you can’t treat her like two ways that I explained above, He can’t trust you with her anyway.

-D.Royul