By David Peddy
By far this is one of my favorite devos and one I think is important for men today. How to be both the Lion and the Lamb for your family, your faith and others around you.
I was listening to my “Unashamed with the Robertson Family” podcast a while back and they had a guest on named Kyle Thompson. Kyle hosts the “Undaunted Life” podcast for Christian men. Phil, Jase, and Al Robertson were discussing the perceptions commonly associated with Christian men. Kyle said before he came to Christ he perceived spiritual men as soft and somewhat feminine. Kyle explained his thinking, “Because you love Jesus, try to be like Jesus and love your neighbors this made you soft.” But if you are a modern day Christian man, you know this isn’t true.
Does telling our brothers in Christ we love them make us less men? Nah. Does worshipping in church make me feminine? No sir. If you see tears rolling down my face during worship on Sunday does that make me soft? No, it just means I’m basking in God’s abundant grace because I know that I am all too imperfect. I’m crying because God loves me anyway.
Does me being a Christian mean that I am a passive observer when someone is in distress and needs help…heck no, enter the Lion. Jesus showed us the Lion when the Pharisees turned the church into a marketplace. He flipped over tables and ran the wrongdoers out of the temple with a whip. He’s going to be the Lion when he returns one day too.
1 Corinthians 16:13
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”
Jesus was the Lamb and suffered tremendously for us, graciously giving his life for each of us. He is the greatest and most powerful of all time, yet the humblest. All powerful, yet was the greatest example of a servant that has ever walked the Earth. Matthew 23:11 “The greatest among you will be your servant.”
Kyle Thompson was talking about being “the man” for your family. He profoundly stated, “You have to be Lions for them, Lambs with them. They need to know the lion is available, or they will be anxious. But you cannot be the lion all the time and dominate your family.”
Be the Lamb: be love to your family and your neighbors. Holster the Lion, but be it when you need to. Being the Christian man in your household does not make you soft. There’s nothing soft about it. It makes you the Lion, the leader, protector, the wise decision maker, the example. Being the Lamb, loving and humble for your family, doesn’t make you soft either. The greatest Christian men I’ve known and respect the most are the ones who I know are both. They show the proper balance of strength and restraint. Their speech is humble yet steady as an oak.
Men, we are called to be as humble and loving as Jesus was, and in today’s world, that takes great strength and self-control. When we lead our families and love others well, that humility becomes a source of strength for those around us. And those qualities are what God can use through us to further His kingdom.
Revelation 5:5–6
“See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah…has triumphed… Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain…”