Two Things You Need to Be a Real Man— Do You Have Them?

The LORD is a warrior; Almighty is His name (Exo 15:3).
Men are made in God’s image (See Gen 1:27).
God created men to be warriors.

A warrior fights for that which he loves.

But to love, presupposes that he receives love – ongoing.

As St. Augustine says, “You cannot give what you do not possess.”
You cannot give love, or fight for that which you love, if you do not have love, if you do not allow yourself to be loved.

A man is to be a warrior who will kill if necessary.
Yet, for the name of God allows himself to be killed.

If a man does not love or allow himself to be loved, his instinct to fight remains.
He fights for himself.
He becomes a selfish, tyrannical bully. A warrior—yes.
A lover—hell no.

God is a warrior. God is Love. God is both-and.
Man is made in the image of God. Man is both-and.
If a man is to be like God, he is to be a Lover-Warrior.

All this talk about being a man is meaningless if a man does not learn how to be loved by God; how to become the Beloved; how to love and be loved by the Divine Bridegroom.

Yep. I just said that.

This idea runs against the very grain of our masculine essence.

But if you don’t have the heart to be The Beloved
you will never have the cojones to be a true warrior.

The misogynists usurp patriarchy by fighting without love.
The effeminate church “man” renounces patriarchy by “loving” without fighting.

The true man is like the True God. He is both-and.
He is warrior and lover.
He fights for that which he loves.
He loves because he allows himself to be loved—
by God and man.

When men learn to love and be loved they will learn how to be warriors
who fight for Love Himself…
Then they will be men.