Some men remain boys all their lives. Others assume manhood at a very young age and keep it, but still others must discover it for themselves through great trials, often of their own making.

Photo: by Pontex1, via <ahref="http://mrg.bz/pgIUSoMorgueFile.com, 2010. Photo: by Pontex1, via MorgueFile.com, 2010.

Manhood begins in the heart and grows into commitment and integrity. Those two things--commitment and integrity--are indicative of a man's strength. And I'm not talking about either male or female strength here--female strengths are very different. I'm talking strictly about males.

I knew a boy who became a man despite himself. How did this transformation occur? Oddly it came out of the lack of commitment and integrity when the boy wanted only the gratification drugs, sex, and selfishness. Finally, he was cast to his knees by his wrong decisions. But there, on his knees, at the bottom of the heap, he looked upward, and learned where he came from.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.--Genesis 1:27

At his very lowest point, the boy who became a man discovered he was a child of God. He made a commitment, and then carried it out with integrity. And the man became strong.

But a man is not a man because he has muscular strength, has a good job, or is financially successful. He is not a man because he is married or has fathered children.

He is a man because he is made in the image of God. He is a man because he is committed to the God who made him. He is a man because he reaches up, out of himself, for his God--always. And he shows his commitment through the integrity with which he lives his life unselfishly, with faith, hope, and love.

(God's)delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man. The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.--Psalm 147:10-11

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Copyright 2016 Kaye Hinckley.