[Note: Just to reiterate that the term "Manly Man" is synonymous with Priesthood Man or Righteous Man or Good Man. So when I talk about a Manly Man I am talking about all that is good in a Godly way for a man to be. Secondly if you haven't read all the Manly Man trainings I encourage you to go back and do so. You can access them easily by (clicking here) or by going to the 'labels' section in the right column of the front page of my blog and clicking on "Manly Man" and all the trainings will be listed in reverse order.]
Those of us with children might be familiar with some parental anxiety that often begins to come into play when the child is quite young, usually about the time when they are allowed to go to friend's homes to play. Parents begin to think about their child's behavior when he is away from the parents. Will they behave according to all that we have taught them? Will they remember to be polite, say 'thank you' and all the other things that smooth our way through society? Will they obey courtesy and family rules? When we pick them up we often ask how things went, meaning "is their anything I need to teach them or emphasize before they come over again?"
If we haven't experienced that then we can remember as a child how it felt to know that there was something we needed to be doing, some rule to obey, some nicety to be observing. We might look around us and see if we thought we could get away without doing it. I remember as a child visiting my Grandmother's house in West Virginia. My cousin Bobby and I enjoyed playing together and that evening we had been instructed to take a bath after a day full of outside sweaty play. We got the great idea that we wouldn't really take a bath as instructed but pretend we did and fool our Moms. We ran the bath water and put on clean clothes but miraculously they sensed (smelled?) that something was amiss and sent us back to repeat the procedure, which we did while marveling that our mother's could see through our ruse. Sometimes when a child we wanted to see if anyone was watching to see if we could get away with something. Even now as adults we may be looking over our shoulder for that purpose.
In 2 Corinthians 13:11 we read: "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."
I've been thinking about this verse and realize that even in the days of the early saints that they needed the opportunity to be tested to see if they would follow the teachings of the apostles without them present to keep an eye on things.
It appears that part of each of our tests is to see if we will follow what we know is right even without our parents, or another authority figure to observe and be quick to correct us.
So Manly Men, I am suggesting that you be willing to do what is right, even when your wife, or some other person is not there to keep an eye on you, or even if they are there. Can you be trusted to do what the Lord has taught, without supervision? Can you be expected to do the right thing according to your knowledge and understanding without having to be directed? Even when you are alone are you a Manly Man? That is not only what the Lord is expecting and your wife is hoping for, but the only thing that will allow you to fully trust yourself.
Pretty often I see women coming to church regularly even when their husbands choose not to or can't for one reason or another. I see single ladies continuing to do the right thing even when they remain single and alone and feel it tremendously. Unfortunately I don't see as many men doing the same thing. Often single men, widowed men, or men whose wives choose to depart from the teachings of the Savior fall away. We need to be men that do the right thing even without the support and encouragement of our spouse or others. If we are not there yet, well then, that is a goal to work toward. We need to have an independent testimony that if necessary can stand alone if our spouse or other supports are gone or lost.
After all Christ had to prove himself even when left alone on the cross. He had to have his test to prove he would follow through on what he had been taught and prepared for even without the Spirit to help. He followed through wondrously which of course allows all of us to have options for eternity. Similarly we have a wife, children and/or other family depending on us to do the right thing even when we are not observed. To a degree, some of their options for eternity depend on our choices, on our private righteous behavior. Can we be trusted?
Those of us with children might be familiar with some parental anxiety that often begins to come into play when the child is quite young, usually about the time when they are allowed to go to friend's homes to play. Parents begin to think about their child's behavior when he is away from the parents. Will they behave according to all that we have taught them? Will they remember to be polite, say 'thank you' and all the other things that smooth our way through society? Will they obey courtesy and family rules? When we pick them up we often ask how things went, meaning "is their anything I need to teach them or emphasize before they come over again?"
If we haven't experienced that then we can remember as a child how it felt to know that there was something we needed to be doing, some rule to obey, some nicety to be observing. We might look around us and see if we thought we could get away without doing it. I remember as a child visiting my Grandmother's house in West Virginia. My cousin Bobby and I enjoyed playing together and that evening we had been instructed to take a bath after a day full of outside sweaty play. We got the great idea that we wouldn't really take a bath as instructed but pretend we did and fool our Moms. We ran the bath water and put on clean clothes but miraculously they sensed (smelled?) that something was amiss and sent us back to repeat the procedure, which we did while marveling that our mother's could see through our ruse. Sometimes when a child we wanted to see if anyone was watching to see if we could get away with something. Even now as adults we may be looking over our shoulder for that purpose.
In 2 Corinthians 13:11 we read: "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."
I've been thinking about this verse and realize that even in the days of the early saints that they needed the opportunity to be tested to see if they would follow the teachings of the apostles without them present to keep an eye on things.
It appears that part of each of our tests is to see if we will follow what we know is right even without our parents, or another authority figure to observe and be quick to correct us.
So Manly Men, I am suggesting that you be willing to do what is right, even when your wife, or some other person is not there to keep an eye on you, or even if they are there. Can you be trusted to do what the Lord has taught, without supervision? Can you be expected to do the right thing according to your knowledge and understanding without having to be directed? Even when you are alone are you a Manly Man? That is not only what the Lord is expecting and your wife is hoping for, but the only thing that will allow you to fully trust yourself.
Pretty often I see women coming to church regularly even when their husbands choose not to or can't for one reason or another. I see single ladies continuing to do the right thing even when they remain single and alone and feel it tremendously. Unfortunately I don't see as many men doing the same thing. Often single men, widowed men, or men whose wives choose to depart from the teachings of the Savior fall away. We need to be men that do the right thing even without the support and encouragement of our spouse or others. If we are not there yet, well then, that is a goal to work toward. We need to have an independent testimony that if necessary can stand alone if our spouse or other supports are gone or lost.
After all Christ had to prove himself even when left alone on the cross. He had to have his test to prove he would follow through on what he had been taught and prepared for even without the Spirit to help. He followed through wondrously which of course allows all of us to have options for eternity. Similarly we have a wife, children and/or other family depending on us to do the right thing even when we are not observed. To a degree, some of their options for eternity depend on our choices, on our private righteous behavior. Can we be trusted?
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| We can trust in God but can he trust us? |
hahaha i like the skipping-the-bath story :) and i like your thoughts on integrity. i remember really understanding integrity for the first time when i was in YW and we had a lesson on it since it is one of the YW values. it is amazing that many people in our world do not have integrity, but i know that it is still valued/respected by most people. i've had several friends outside of the church that have made comments to me at various points about how much they feel they can trust me. that means alot to me :) i feel that that is a reflection on my integrity - they see that i am a person who is true to what i believe and stand for regardless of the place or time. people around us can sense our integrity, and i've never heard anyone complain about it ;)
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