The late Gerald Levert wrote a song called "Definition of a Man" and the song talked about what a man should do for his woman. The song is great as many of Gerald Levert's songs, but I wanted to put my spin on what the definition of a man is to me. All the men out there feel free to give your opinions of what you think defines a man and share them with us all.
My Definition of a Man:
First having a penis does make your gender male, but it doesn't define you as a man! Neither does having many sexual conquest. Having a penis puts you in the male category of the species of Man, but it doesn't make you a MAN.
So what makes us Men a MAN????
The first thing that makes us a Man (in my opinion) is your acknowledgement of the Creator. A real MAN acknowledges that there is a God and that Elohim created us from the dust of the ground. In order to become a true man we as men have to not only acknowledge God, but we must have fellowship with Him. Our first duty was to have fellowship with our Creator. We can't hear from Him, receive our assignment, or worship Him if we do not have fellowship with Him. More importantly to become a SAVED MAN and to continue to have Fellowship with God, we MUST have a Relationship with His Son Jesus Christ. That's the first thing that makes us a man.
The second thing that makes us A True Man and not a pseudo-male man (a man who is male and calls himself a man, but doesn't live up to the definition of a man). The second thing is that we WORK!!! A man must work! It is a law, a principle, a true desire for a man, and a command from our creator. I'm not saying that we as men don't fall on hard times and may find ourselves in a position where we are unable to work, but the driving force within us and a testament of being a MAN is that we work. We work to sustain ourselves, we work to become independent, we work to provide for our families, we work to help others, we work to build our communities, we work to lift one another up, and we work to because it is in our nature to work. This is very important that we not live up to the pseudo-male man; who does nothing, but let someone take care of them, no a real man or at least in my definition works and works hard to be the best at what he does. The first thing God gave us was life/fellowship with him, then He gave us a Job, and then He blessed us with a mate. See how that works...
The third thing that makes us a man is that we build our fellow man up. This is very important I believe in steps to becoming a true MAN. That we don't spend time tearing one another down or destroying one another. A real man is truly his brother's keeper. Men work together to protect their families and the families within their communities. Real men help to educate their sons and the sons of their brothers. To go beyond the competitive nature of maleness to be better than the next man, but to be able to lift their brother up and also prepare young men to step up and one day take their place. A man is a protector and a provider and protecting doesn't mean just protecting your family from physical harm, but a protector protects his family, children, and community from social injustices, he protects his future from poor education, and he doesn't promote the destruction of another man.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said this, "Man was born into barbarism when killing his fellow man was a normal condition of existence. He became endowed with a conscience. And he has now reached the day when violence toward another human being must become as abhorrent as eating another's flesh." -Why We Can't Wait, 1963.
The fourth thing that makes a man a true MAN is that he is passionate about something. That he is passionate about something enough that he is willing to die for it.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr had this to say, "If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." - speech, Detroit, Michigan, June 23, 1963.
The fifth thing that makes a man a true MAN is that he is able to admit when he is wrong and can apologize without feeling like he's less of a man.
The sixth thing that makes a man a true MAN is the ability to learn from their mistakes. To not only learn from their mistakes, but teach others about those mistakes and how to avoid them.
OK I'm tired of numbering them so I will just list the rest of them.
A truly defined man takes care of his children. He doesn't make babies and leave them to be raised by the mother or by another man. Male animals make babies and leave them; if you say your a man then you are involved in the raising of your children!!! A FATHER is not only defined by BIOLOGY, but A FATHER is defined by the act of being in their child's life, instilling values that will help them in life, teaching them, correcting their children, laughing with them, being at all their school events, protecting them, putting them to bed, watching them growing up, teaching them to drive, showing them how to change the oil in the car, teaching them to love, and being an example they can live up too. (That last one came from my Pastor and his sermon on Father's Day). A truly defined man is not just an example to his own children, but the children that are around him. I have a FATHER that isn't my BIOLOGICAL FATHER, but he did all the things a FATHER should do and what a FATHER should be, and he provides for a family. A real man can raise children that aren't his own. I'm a product of being raised by a man who didn't make me!
A truly defined man treats the women in his life with respect, he honors them, he is grateful for them, he is a protector of them, a provider, and he shows them love with his action and not just his word. Read the stories about the good men in the Bible that adored their women and worked for them. He didn't view them as a sexual conquest, but as a treasure. Again yes we make mistakes and we may have taken the women in our lives for granted, but a true MAN learns from his mistakes and corrects them. If you are breathing right now you have a chance to change the way you treat the women in your life.
A truly defined man works to better himself and others.
A truly defined man can love, and can even love his fellow man.
A truly defined man has true friendships and realizes that they maybe able to stand alone, but working with other men can get the job done faster and more effectively.
A truly defined man keeps his WORD!!!! Let your yes be yes and your no be no.
A truly defined man is dependable and trustworthy.
A truly defined man makes the tough decisions.
A truly defined man is there when times get rough, but also isn't to prideful to ask for help when it is needed.
This is just my definition of a man. I hope that we as men can work to become this Definition of a Man.
"Men have all been culturally designed with conquest, killing, or dying in mind. Even sissies. Early in life a boy learns that he must be prepared to fight or be called a sissy, a girl. Many of the creative men I know were sissies. They were too sensitive, too compassionate, to fight. And most of them grew up feeling they were somehow inferior and flunked the manhood test. I suspect many writers are still showing the bullies on the block that the pen is mightier than the sword. The test shaped us, whether we passed or flunked. We are all war-wounded.
" Sam Keen Source: Fire in the Belly (1991)
"There is a law that man should love his neighbor as himself. In a few hundred years it should be as natural to mankind as breathing or the upright gait.. but if he does not learn it he must perish."- Alfred Adler
"We mistakenly assume that if our partners love us they will react and behave in certain ways - the ways we react and behave when we love someone." - John Gray
"A man's sense of self is defined through his ability to achieve results."- John Gray
"Take it from a guy: If you're in love with somebody, you will swim the stream, you will climb the mountain, you will slay the dragon. You're going to get to her somehow, some way." -Dr. Phil McGraw
"God gave men a brain and a penis, but only enough blood to run one at a time."- Robin Williams
