The stuff that makes a man…

2nd Peter 1:5

So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. 6 Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. 7 Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin.

The New Living Translation

In high school, I remember that every second term, after exams, we'd have an entire week of what we called Talks. Talks was ideally a week of counseling, motivation and guidance, organized by the school for us girls. We all loved this one week. The speakers were almost always really boring and discouraging but the week was the most stress-free week of the entire school year. All you had to do was attend. No one forced to listen. And that's the part we all loved about 'the week for talks'.

Amongst the people who would talk to us, some condemning, some disapproving, some rebuking, some criticizing, others truly motivated us with their life stories and struggles. We were lucky to have people who would speak to us and try and inspire us. There are things that I learnt then in those talks that have seldom been mentioned again. Amongst the forgotten, lies the stuff that makes a man. Virtues.

What does 'virtue' mean? We rarely use that word. Virtue is defined as quality that is morally right and admirable. The word 'goodness' has also been used interchangeably with the word 'virtue' in many bible versions.

Everybody in the world is wonderful and special. God made us all and he loves us all, each in a special way. However, we are at liberty to choose our value. Let me explain. If you have two houses, one built with straw and hay and the other made of rock, which is of more value? If you have two runners, one works out once a week and the other trains 5 hrs a day, which of the runners would Iran buy for more money? Both are houses. Both are runners. Both houses have the same owner. Both runners run for the same team. But one of each has got more value than the other. And guess what, "Chema cha jiuza, kibaya cha jitembeza". God has trusted us with increasing our value by gaining His values. You want to be a better person, runner, businessman? Add value to yourself. (Thanks Sii!) You want to sell your old computer? Raise it's specs. You want to sell yourself? What are you made of?
 

There are a number of virtues that I have found and believe are essential to making a Man*(terms and conditions apply) of God. As a Christian, you are never to be caught just sitting there and letting life pass you on. You are supposed to be assertive and active in your 'fighting the good fight'. I think it is a good idea to identify virtues that appeal to your personality and strive to build character. Build on these values, do not let a minute go to waste. Work with these values in the kingdom of God. Remember: Identify, Build, Work.

Honor is good stewardship. It is being trustworthy and showing responsibility towards your fellow brethren brought about by your respect for them. Honesty is putting the right date on your 'Refund voucher' even if the money is at stake. Honesty is giving back the matatu guy the extra change he hands you. Honesty is not-being on Facebook when you should be working. Faithfulness is making a point of remembering to carry that money that you promised. Faithfulness is starting something and sticking to it until the point of completion. If you are going to start something, start well. If you are going to start well, finish. If you are going to finish, finish well. Dependability is one of God's defining traits. If you are his son, this trait should show. Dependability is being there on time. It is being trust-worthy and reliable. It is being able to carry out your end of the deal. This is not only towards humans, this is even towards God. Can God depend on you to carry out his will here on earth? Mercy Patience and Kindness. Show mercy and you will be shown mercy. Mercy is putting yourself in the shoes of that person who is in excess in that matatu that you are travelling in. Yes, she has no right to make you share your seat. Yes, it is illegal to share your seat. But now that you are already speeding on the rough Limuru road, take pity on that woman because it's late and she just wants to get home. Remember that there are many times that you are undeserving and sometimes outright wrong yet your heavenly Father does not bat an eyelid when he shows you mercy, favour and kindness. Otherwise, NEVER get into a matatu that is already full! Patience is forgiving your sister who's borrowed your favourite shoes again and ripped them. Although some people never seem to get it, you just have to forgive them again and again. Dignity and integrity. Dignity is not drinking tea with a little cup with your pinkie up! It is not walking around so stiff that you scare people. Dignity is self respect. It is not-saying that curse-word that just seems to want to come out of your mouth. Not-listening to that dirty joke. Not-having coarse conversation. Not-involving yourself in gossip and rumor mongering. Integrity is knowing who God expects you to be and being it.

Courage, Determination and strength.

Through out the ages, God has raise up extra-ordinary men of faith and their defining characteristics have been these three. Courage Determination and Strength. This is actually what faith is made of. Faith is having the courage to believe that which is difficult to believe, it is being determined to continue believing no matter what and it is the strength to make these decisions and stick to them.

When Moses died, Joshua was in a fix. He had really big shoes to fill. But you know what God told him? "Be strong and of Good Courage! Remember my commands and be confident." Joseph refused to give up regardless of his bad circumstances. Regardless of shattered hopes, Joseph was determined to serve the Lord. Note, Joseph was determined to serve the Lord not to be successful. His focus was on his purpose and that was to honor the Lord God. Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego are the greatest examples of courage. "Throw me into the lions den and see if my God my God won't save me!" "We'd rather burn than go against what our God requires!" and there's the classic, " I'd rather eat vegetables than eat your evil meats ( insert chocolate, junk… etc)!" That's courage for you.

Christianity s not for the faint-hearted. It is a long journey that involves a lot of sacrifice. In fact, the sacrifice is so much that it is literally dying to oneself. It is a challenge. It is a battle. You will cry and you will be beaten down by the journey's difficulties. You will do right when everybody else around you is doing wrong. You will fail and you will get up again while everybody watches. You will be terrified of the Goliaths but you will sling the stone. You will make a fool of yourself and then the devil will humiliate you, drag you through the mud and shame you using the people closest to you but you will overcome. Christianity is a challenge and the better you get at each challenge, the harder the next one is going to be. And believe me, you will always feel the pinch when it comes, whether you are eight or you are eighty.

Sugar and spice and everything nice is what little girls are made of. Men are made of struggles won, difficulties overcome and troubles triumphed over. Jesus has already overcome for us.

Are you a man? Or are you a little girl?