Prepared For Battle

Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
He is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and He in whom I take refuge,
- Psalm 144:1-2

Men, you were created for battle.

The very composition of your body and nature of your mind bear witness to this truth.

You were made for conflict. You were made to stand in the gap. You were made to conquer, to build, to defend, to destroy, to train, to explore, to discover, and to lead. This is your identity. This is your calling.

Don’t let anyone tell you that your aggression, your drive, your intensity, or your strength is sinful or toxic. They are gifts given to you by God to be harnessed, leveraged, and utilized for the good of those in your life. Take them, train them, point them in the right direction and at the proper opponents and get to work: in your home, at your job, in your culture.

“Put on the whole armor of God,” Paul writes in Ephesians 6, “that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil,” and “that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” he says again in II Corinthians 10:4-5.

Armor and weapons: things you don’t concern yourself with unless you’re going to war.

And make no mistake, men: to be Christ’s man is to be at war. So, dig deep and build up the strength God has given you in order to do some damage to the things that seek to wreck your soul and the souls of those you love.

God made you a man to fight evil, build culture, lead your family, work hard, and to know Him, all with the knee bent firmly in service to your king, Jesus Christ. Embrace it. Don’t let Hollywood or Washington, DC or academia tell you what masculinity is. Instead, find out from the One who made all mankind and then made you, specifically. From the top to the bottom: learn from Christ what it is to be a man in your body, in your mind, in your soul and in the very purpose and meaning of your existence.

God made you a man for a reason. There is work to be done, training to receive and battles to fight.

Time to get to it.

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“Yahweh is a man of war; Yahweh is His name.” – Exodus 15:3

“He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” – Psalm 18:34