Defining a Man | Be Strong

So when something's not where it's supposed to be, that can be a problem.

Everything's got its place.

I am not a big fan of that feeling when you go to grab something and it's not there.

Anyone else with me on that one?

There's a feeling of frustration that goes with that, maybe a splash of panic, depending on what on what it is, because man, I gotta find it.

Where it is, where is it?

If it's not where it's supposed to be, that's gonna throw things off.

Like car keys.

My car keys have a spot.

Kelly's car keys have a spot.

And when you go to grab them and they're not there, inevitably it's already when you're running behind.

But if the car keys aren't in their spot, now I'm gonna be late.

Or your wallet.

Ladies, I don't know if this is true for you, but guys, we all have our spot in our houses where our wallet goes, right?

Mine is a very weird spot, but that's where it goes.

And if I go to grab it and it's not there, my first thought is who touched it?

Because if I didn't move it, it's never my fault.

Who touched it?

Or there's a little bit of panic because now I gotta call to the bank and cancel my cards.

Maybe I'm not gonna be able to fill up because somebody in my family left the car on E, but it doesn't matter anyway because we can't find the keys, we're already late.

It doesn't matter.

Or what about food?

I'm venting right now, okay?

What about food?

Like, food, food if it's left out, it goes bad.

But more importantly, what about food that I'm hiding from my children?

I'm hiding that for me.

And if it's not in its hiding spot, then my kids are going to attack that food like they're a pack of rabid raccoons.

Like, here's what it comes down to.

If something's not in its place, it can't serve its purpose.

Now that's pretty obvious with some inanimate objects like your car keys.

But what about things that are not as obvious?

Things that you can't hold in your hands, like strength.

1 Corinthians 16, 13, right?

It says, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

So, what does it actually mean for a man to be strong?

Now, culturally, that is meant over time.

It has meant self-sufficiency and autonomy.

Be completely independent.

And if you're a man and you're strong, you don't need help from other people.

Strength has meant emotional suppression.

You don't need to feel or show any kind of emotions.

Don't you dare shed a tear, and don't show any kind of vulnerability as a man because that means you're weak.

It's also meant strength has meant dominance in every aspect of life.

As a man, whatever room you walk into, can you dominate?

Then the way strength has been depicted by traditional chauvinism has been a strong man does whatever he can to be successful in his career, even at the expense of his family.

He sleeps with as many women as he possibly can, and a strong man is going to get everything that he wants in life.

That's what chauvinism has taught.

And for the most part, we've condemned that in men, rightfully so.

But what I think is interesting is that modern-day feminism has borrowed from that.

Like modern-day feminism says, women, be successful in your career.

Do whatever you can to be successful at the expense of your family.

Be successful in anything you want to be, as long as it's not being a successful wife or a mother, and sleep with whoever you want, whenever you want, because that means you are a strong and empowered woman.

I think it's interesting that we've condemned that in men, rightfully so, but that's become a rallying cry for feminism.

Here's what I would say: women, do not listen to what the world says about how to be a strong woman.

Listen to Proverbs 31.

That talks about a strong woman in her personal life, in the marketplace, in her marriage, with her kids.

A strong woman is a godly woman, just like a strong man is a godly man.

So be strong.

What it says in 1 Corinthians 16.

If we're actually going to do that as men, it's going to look a whole lot different than what gets celebrated in the world today.

To be strong as a man, that means you cannot be bought.

Your values, your character, your principles, they're not for sale.

A strong man means he cannot be conquered by lust, he cannot be controlled by fear, he cannot be seduced by comfort.

A strong man is driven by humility, not pride.

He knows the source of his strength is Jesus, and he knows that his strength is not for himself.

By definition, strength is the capacity for a person to exert force, to handle challenges, to be able to withstand pressure.

That's what it is by definition.

And every man wants to be strong.

Like you do, I do.

We all want that to be the case.

We want to be strong physically.

We want to be strong mentally.

We want to be strong in whatever it is that we do for a living.

We want other people to view us as strong.

Like all of us want that.

And every single man has a capacity for strength.

Here's the question you and I have to ask ourselves Is my strength misplaced?

Is it in the wrong spot?

Just like misplaced car keys or a wallet, if your strength is not in the right spot, it cannot serve its purpose.

Here's what I mean.

If you can run a marathon or bench 315, but you can't sit down and have a real conversation with your wife about how she's feeling, are you really strong?

If you can start and grow a really successful business and you employ lots and lots of people, but you immediately lose your cool when you walk in the door at home with the first little frustration, are you really strong?

Like if you're a leader of leaders and you can handle the different challenges and crises out there, but you can't offer a single simple apology when you're wrong, are you really strong?

Men, we're meant to be strong.

We're supposed to be.

But if our strength is misplaced, it can never serve its purpose.

Your strength is not for you.

Your strength is always for other people.

Every time this call to be strong comes up in scripture, comes up quite a bit.

Every time a man is called to be strong, it's always so that somebody else gets served.

It's so that somebody else can be provided for and protected and blessed every single time.

But you as a man, you're going to be encouraged and you're going to be tempted to use your strength only for you.

Whenever we think about temptation, we usually think we get tempted in our weaknesses.

That's usually what we think about.

And of course that happens.

But you also will be tempted with your strengths.

Satan does not mind at all if you are a strong and gifted man.

That doesn't bother him at all.

As long as you use your strength for yourself.

Because if I'm all about me and I use my strength just for me and what I want, then it's very hard to notice how pride will start to grow up in me.

It's just strength.

Strength is a good thing.

God made me strong in this area, I'm using it.

But if it's about me, it's misplaced strength.

And misplaced strength is useless.

Might even be dangerous.

For a man, your strength is always for somebody else.

Proverbs 24, 10 and 11 says, if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

Rescue those who are being taken away to death.

Hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.

As men, we should take those two verses very, very seriously.

In 2019, a family of six from Tennessee, they were on vacation in Florida.

They were looking forward to getting to the beach and relaxing.

It was something they'd had planned for a long time.

Now they're finally there.

53-year-old Fred Pepperman, he had just settled down into his beach chair.

He probably had just got done being the family pack mule.

Like carrying all the stuff from the car to the spot on the beach.

And every dad knows what this is like.

You're carrying the chairs, you got the umbrella tucked underneath your arm, you're carrying the cooler, you're carrying that really weird beach bag with all of the sunscreen and all of the toys that you know your kids aren't gonna play with at all, but your wife insists that you bring all of it.

You're carrying 84 different things across 400 yards of scorching sand, burning your feet in the process.

You finally sit down, unpack half the stuff, and inevitably somebody in your family says, Hey dad, there's a better spot, like 500 yards that way.

Can we go sit up there?

You gotta do the whole thing all over again.

That takes strength, physical strength, more so mental strength, so you don't lose your mind.

But once you sit down in that beach chair and you bury your toes in the sand, how good does that feel?

That's relaxing.

That's exactly where Fred Pepperman was.

He had just sat down, but something was off.

There was commotion out in the water.

Three of his daughters had gone out in the water.

His 16-year-old ended up getting caught in a bad riptide.

His two other daughters who were out there, who were 20 years old and 24 years old at the time, they swam over to help their sister, but they got caught in the riptide too.

Fred was watching all of this happen from the beach.

So he takes off into the water.

He swims out there to save his daughters.

And when he gets to where they were at, they had gone under.

So he uses every ounce of his strength to swim down and bring each of his daughters to the surface and then help them get onto a board that somebody else saw what was happening, and they brought a board out there to help with the rescue.

He goes down in the water, brings up one, puts her on the board, does it for the second, does it for the third.

Each time individually, using as much strength as he could, one of his daughters yells out, Daddy, help me.

And he says, I got you.

I got you.

Those happen to be his last words.

He used every ounce of his strength to save his daughters, which he did.

But in the process, he drowned.

That's what it means to be strong.

His strength was not misplaced.

It was used for others, not himself.

That's what a man does.

A man sacrifices himself for others.

He uses his strength for others.

And for Christian men, there's no other option.

Why?

Because that's exactly what Jesus did.

Think about how much strength it took for Jesus to willingly go to the cross.

He didn't have to.

Like when people will say, hey, why did Jesus have to die?

The first answer is he didn't have to.

He chose to.

He willingly went to the cross.

And then think about how much strength it actually took to endure the cross.

Once you're nailed to that thing, he could have snapped his fingers, he could have called out an allegiances is coming down, wiping out all the Romans and the Pharisees and taking them down and taking them back up to heaven.

How much strength did it take to say no to that?

And he did all of that for you.

The cross is Jesus saying to you, I got you.

I got you.

Every man in here would say, I would die for my family.

We would all say that.

And we believe that in our core for sure.

In fact, we even visualize that at times.

Like every man in here, okay, maybe it's just me, but what would I do if a bear walked into the room right now?

Like, how would I handle that situation?

Am I the only guy that's wondered that before?

Shows how weird I am.

We talked about the Titanic last week.

Every guy in here probably thought I'd be one of the seven.

I'd be one of the seven that got pulled out of the water.

I would have made it.

Like we all would say that we would die for our families.

I've got great news for you, men.

You have a chance to die for your family every single day.

You die to yourself so that they can be provided for.

Provided physically, but also mentally and emotionally.

Most importantly, provided for spiritually.

You get to die to yourself every single day so that your family's protected.

Protected physically, but also protected spiritually and emotionally and relationally.

You get to die to yourself every single day so that your family's better than you.

I tell my boys this all the time.

I'm the only man in the world that will celebrate when you are better than me.

A man dies to his ego so that he can celebrate when the people he loves are better than him.

Do you have the strength for that?

Or is your strength misplaced?

Let me also say this men.

It is disrespectful to the people who depend on you for you to be out of shape.

You are disrespecting the people that depend on you by being out of shape, not only physically, but also emotionally.

And most of all, out of shape spiritually.

You cannot be strong if you're out of shape.

So get into shape in whatever area you need to.

Here's what I mean: physically.

Get into shape so that your strength, your physical strength, can be used to serve or protect or take care of.

Now, some of the men in our church, you all have a lot of years under your belt.

You've served your time.

All right?

We got it now.

And if you have physical limitations, then do what you can with inside those limitations.

Even if it's not much, that's okay.

You just do what you can.

But if you do not have limitations other than your willingness, then get into physical shape so that if strength is needed to serve, if it's needed for protection, or if it's needed for an emergency, a man is ready to give it.

Now, this is something I have no control over.

It's completely out of my control.

But here's what I want I want to outlive my wife.

I do.

I want to outlive her.

I want to experience the pain of losing a spouse.

I don't want Kelly to have to experience that.

Now, again, I can't control that at all.

Like my life could end today.

But what I can do is do whatever I can to make sure I'm physically strong enough that that might be a possibility.

I want to serve her and protect her from not experiencing that pain if I can.

So I want to lean in physically.

Also, when it comes to emotional, you got to be in shape emotionally.

And this can be a really weird spot for a lot of men, but it doesn't have to be.

Now, this doesn't mean you gotta start watching chick flicks and cry all the time and just talk about your feelings.

That's that's not what it means, okay?

It's not what it means.

Here's what it means to be in shape emotionally and strong emotionally as a man.

Number one, you allow yourself to feel.

You can feel stuff.

You should.

You're emotionally out of shape if you don't allow yourself to do it.

So allow yourself to feel.

Then from there, number two, you can know what that feeling is that you're experiencing and you know where it's coming from.

You can identify where it's coming from.

Then after that, you can share how you're feeling with the appropriate people.

Like again, it doesn't mean you tell everybody all the time about what you're feeling and all.

No, like just can you share what you're feeling with the appropriate people?

Then from there, you are in control.

You're not being controlled by your emotions.

Now, a lot of men will think, well, that's easy.

Yeah, I'm not crying all the time.

I'm not walking around sat.

No, hold on, hold on.

If you're crying all the time as a man, that's usually not, we don't usually have to worry about that.

Here's what it means to be controlled by your emotions.

It's usually not crying, it's usually anger.

Are you being controlled by anger and frustration?

And my family would tell you, that's what I wrestle with, is not being controlled by anger.

It's hard, it's hard to do sometimes.

But being emotionally in shape means you're in control, not being controlled by your emotions.

And then number five, it means you can act appropriately on your emotions.

So get in shape emotionally.

And most importantly, get in shape spiritually.

That means you pursue Jesus.

That means you imitate him, you obey his word, you take risks in faith, knowing that that's where he's leading you.

You practice spiritual disciplines to grow spiritually deeper and stronger.

You confess your sin.

You live a life of repentance.

Right now we are in desperate need of spiritually strong men.

Part of the problem with everything out there that we're experiencing right now is because men have been spiritually weak.

Or we've stuck our heads in the sand for so long.

Like we need men to be spiritually strong.

Hebrews talks about this a little bit.

Chapter 5 is unpacking a couple different things, and it's talking about how men need to step up.

Here's what verse 11 says.

There's so much more we would like to say about this, but it's difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don't seem to listen.

Hello.

Okay.

Tell us how you really feel.

You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.

Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God's word.

You're like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.

For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and does not know how to do what is right.

Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

Man, we look we like steak.

We got meat out on the front porch right now.

But as men spiritually, we can't be drinking milk anymore.

It's time to step up and grow spiritually.

And the only way that's gonna happen is if you take it seriously and you take step forward, steps forward.

The Lord is like, I'm ready.

When you're ready, let's go.

I've got so much I want to mold you into, I've got strength that I want to give you, I've got a calling for you, but you've got to grow spiritually.

There's so much darkness in the world right now, and we need spiritually strong men.

Also, strength is a fruit of the spirit.

And if you're thinking, wait, hold up, Matt.

Galatians 5, it says that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

It doesn't say strength.

Yeah, it does.

It's just a different word.

Do you know which one it is?

It's not love, it's gentleness.

The way that scripture talks about gentleness and the way Jesus models it, here's how you could define it.

Gentleness is strength under control.

That's what it is.

It is strength under control.

Gentlemen, gentle men are strong men, not weak men.

In fact, you cannot practice gentleness unless you're strong.

If you're not strong physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, then you cannot practice gentleness because you don't even have the choice.

It's just weakness at that point.

So be strong so that you can be a gentle man.

We need gentle men right now.

Like be strong, get strong as men, physically, emotionally, relationally, spiritually.

And some of you are.

There are so many men.

This is one of the things I love about our church.

Our church has men that are strong, incredibly strong in all of those areas.

And if that's you, men, keep going.

Then we need you.

You're doing a great job.

And even if you can't see it, I promise you that you are making a difference.

You're impacting people that come into your orbit, whether you realize it or not, the people that you serve and depend on you, men, they're blessed because you are a strong man.

Keep going.

People respect you.

I respect you.

So for all of us, men, let's earn the respect that we want.

If you are a man who demands respect, then you're probably not a man worthy of respect.

Because a man who really is worthy of respect never has to demand it because he's earned it.

He's earned it by living out being strong, like 1 Corinthians 16 says.

He's never misplaced his strength.

His strength is for others, it's not for himself.

So earn that respect.

Don't demand it.

And let's be real.

When someone says be strong, that's a lot easier said than done, is it not?

Here's the truth.

Every single man in this room right now is fighting a battle that nobody else knows about.

Ladies, the men know they need to be strong.

We want to be.

No man wants to be or feel weak.

Nobody wants that.

But the truth is, every single man in this room and everybody joining us online is fighting a battle that nobody else knows about.

It could be external.

He could be fighting some kind of situation or dealing with a problem.

It could be that.

But most likely it's internal.

Maybe he's internalizing some pain that he experienced from a betrayal or some kind of failure that he had.

Maybe he's fighting against self-doubt.

He could be dealing with wounds that came from the words of another man that were said years ago, or words that were never said that should have been.

He could be fighting the temptation to throw up his hands and quit on something right now.

I'm just done.

I don't want to deal with this thing anymore.

He's probably questioning himself.

Well, Matt, what's he questioning himself about?

Everything.

He's probably asking, Am I present enough?

Am I providing enough?

Am I strong enough?

Am I good enough?

As a man, am I enough?

Guys, we're all fighting.

But hear me on this.

Whatever battle or problem you're facing right now, especially the ones that nobody else knows about, you are not your source of strength.

And if you think you are, you're gonna constantly ask, Am I enough?

You're gonna be stuck there.

Instead, listen to this.

This is incredibly freeing.

This is Psalm 28, verse 7.

Psalms 28:7

The Lord is my strength.

Who is?

Not me, not my talent, not my experience.

The Lord is my strength and my shield.

I trust him with all my heart.

Psalm 18, 32, God arms me with strength.

He's the one that gives it to me.

He makes my way perfect.

He makes me sure footed as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.

He trains my hands for battle.

He strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.

Man, those are just a couple verses highlighting this.

There are dozens and dozens and dozens of verses that are trying to get all of us, men and women, but especially men, to know that Jesus is the source of strength.

It's not you, it's not your background, it's not your bench, it's not your career, it's him.

And proximity to Jesus means you can get stronger.

Ask him in prayer for the strength that you need.

Man, I'm facing this right now.

Jesus, I need some strength.

Ask him for it.

And then when you are facing the hard stuff, Jesus will use the hard stuff to make you even stronger.

Remember Proverbs 24:10.

Proverbs 24:10

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

The day of adversity is coming, and it's gonna come back again and again and again and again.

It's not gonna stop.

But here's the cool thing about adversity adversity will reveal who you really are.

It will show what your character really is, it will show how actually strong you really are, and it will make you stronger.

So whatever you're facing right now, whatever battle, whatever problem, man, don't complain about the problems.

Men solve problems.

I want to tell you something that was so encouraging to me when this finally, when I finally realized this, and I felt like God kind of slapped me upside the head.

Here it is.

Man, listen to this.

If you hear one thing, maybe you need to hear this.

God does not entrust strong men with privileges, He entrusts them with problems.

And that's the opposite of how our world works.

Like in our world, if you're strong, yeah, you probably will get more privileges.

You'll probably get more opportunities if you're strong, for sure.

The stuff that everybody wants.

But that's not how it works in the kingdom of heaven.

The stronger you are, the more faithful you are as a man, the more God is going to entrust you with problems that he cannot entrust other people.

Because he knows that you're strong enough.

He knows that you're faithful now because you've been faithful before.

He knows that you're going to rely on him for his strength and his power.

So for a strong man, a godly man, the privilege is the problem.

To be entrusted with something to solve that will bless other people and protect them or provide for them?

What a privilege that is.

So whatever battle you're facing, whatever you're struggling with, if it's external, I'm not talking about sin.

Whatever problems in front of you as a man, what if God is asking you this right now?

What if he's saying, hey, can you thank me for entrusting you with this struggle?

Because this struggle that you're having to deal with, again, we're not talking about self-inflicted sin.

This struggle that you're dealing with, this problem, it's a problem that's affecting a lot of people, and I care about that.

And I know that once this problem gets solved and this struggle is taken care of, all of these people are going to be blessed.

And I cannot trust anybody else with it, but I'm trusting you with it.

Because you're strong, because you're faithful, because you're mine, because I strengthen you, I've trained your hands for battle.

What if God is saying, can you thank me for entrusting you with this struggle?

What a privilege that is.

And that will make you stronger.

You know what else will make men stronger?

The women in their lives.

Ladies, can I talk to you for just a minute?

Both single and married.

Proverbs 18, 22 says, He who finds a wife finds a good thing.

The first, right before that, verse 21, it says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

So, wives, your words have the ability to strengthen and give life to your husband, or your words can tear him apart and destroy him.

So use your words really well.

Can I tell you something that I think most wives do not realize?

Wives, you are one of two.

Your voice is one of two voices, the most powerful voices in your husband's life.

Do you know what the other voice is?

His own.

Specifically, it's his own inner critic, his own self-doubt, his own self-shame.

No one will tear a man down like he will tear himself down.

And it's all here.

It's his own voice, and I'll never echo it outside of it.

Your words as his wife can counter that.

Your words are incredibly powerful to your husband.

Incredibly powerful.

Can I tell you, wives, can I tell you what your husband wants that he probably will never tell you?

I won't tell you if you don't want me to.

Like, I'm trying to give you insight here.

Or maybe you're actually just really listening right now and I'm reading you wrong.

Here's what your husband wants from you that he'll never ask for you.

He wants to be pursued by you.

Husbands, we got to pursue our wives.

That means pursue her relationally, emotionally, pursue her friendship.

You better pursue your wife.

But wives, you gotta pursue your husbands too.

He wants to be pursued by you.

He needs that.

He wants to be wanted by you.

And I'm not talking about sex at all.

This has nothing to do with sex.

Your husband wants to be seen by you.

He wants to feel seen.

The way that's gonna happen is if you encourage him.

Encourage him.

Be very generous with your encouragement.

Tell him what you appreciate about him and be specific.

Tell him thank you and what you're grateful for.

Again, be specific.

And here's here's the here's the cheat code right here.

Tell your husband what you think he's good at.

You have no idea what that will do to him.

Tell him what you think he's good at and what you're impressed by.

You have no idea what that will do to him.

That will put steel in his spine.

He will be ready to run through a burning building and fight a grizzly bear on the spot if you do that.

Like you have so much power for your husbands.

Like he just wants to be chosen by you.

He wants to feel chosen by you and not based on his performance.

Do not make it performative.

Man, if you do that, you can strengthen your husband in ways that no other person on the planet can, just with your words and by making him feel seen.

And make sure he feels respected by you in the little things.

Like ask him a question before you ask somebody else.

And wives, do not go ask your dad, ask your husband first.

Okay?

Ask him his opinion about something before a decision is made.

Man, if you do that, he's gonna feel like his voice is valued, that you trust his input.

Even if he doesn't have an opinion or an answer at all, he's gonna feel listened to and respected just by you asking him.

He'll feel that deeply as a man.

But what if you're married to a man who isn't worthy of respect?

What do you do in that spot?

I'm not talking about abuse either.

Abuse is a totally different thing.

If you are in an abusive relationship, get out.

In fact, um, I think I can say this.

I'm looking around to make I'm looking around to make sure.

Okay, I'm gonna say I just need to leave out some details.

So a woman in our church, she came to us a few weeks ago, and she's in a pretty bad relationship, pretty abusive.

Yesterday, 13 men from our church showed up at her house to pack up all of her stuff for and move her out and then move her into a new house and to make sure the guy didn't come back.

Because that's what strong men do, right?

Those are men in our church.

If you're in an abusive relationship, get out.

But I'm talking about respect right here.

What happens if you're married to a man who's not worthy of respect?

And what do you do in that spot?

1 Peter 3 gives a little bit of insight to it.

It says this wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they don't obey the Bible, that they're not Christians, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their lives.

You're not explaining the gospel to them, they're won over just by watching your life.

When they see your respectful and pure conduct, you can win your husband to Christ simply by showing him respect and letting him see the purity of your life in Jesus.

I know men that are godly, godly men who love Jesus deeply right now, but they used to be absolute tools.

And they would tell you that.

They would also say the reason they came to Christ was because of their godly wife.

You have that much strength and power, woman.

But what if your husband never comes to Christ?

What if he what if he says he's a Christian, but there's no evidence of it?

Like he doesn't, you don't see any spiritual fruit, you see no transformation at all.

What if he does nothing that ever deserves any respect?

What do you do in that spot?

That's really tough.

But if you respect him like this verse is saying, God is gonna see that.

The Lord knows that you are respecting him by respecting his word, and God will honor that.

All of us respect Jesus and we're called to.

How could you not?

If you know the real Jesus, of course we respect him.

So, as a wife, if you're in that situation, when you respect your husband even though he doesn't deserve it, what you're really doing is you're respecting Jesus, and he will honor for you for that at some point.

I don't know what that looks like, I don't know when it's gonna be.

Maybe it's not until the other side of eternity, but God does not miss that and he will honor you.

And if you're single, ladies, if you're single, look for godly strength in a man.

Choose wisely when it comes to a man.

If you're single and you want to be married one day, that is a great desire that you have.

But hear me on this: do not settle.

I don't know what it's like in the dating world right now.

I hear it's crazy and chaotic, and I can't expect anything else than that.

But don't settle.

Hear me.

It would better, it would be better for you to be single than to marry a weak man.

That will cause you so many problems down the road if you marry a weak man, weak in his character, weak in his relationship with Jesus, weak in all the areas that we talked about being strong.

Don't settle when it comes to godly strength.

And young men, be the strong man right now that your future wife deserves.

As a young man, work on being strong physically, but mentally, emotionally, and especially spiritually, so that you can use that strength to serve your future wife.

And then all of us as men, all men, let's earn the respect that we want.

If you're strong, keep going and keep working out.

Let's continue to get stronger physically, emotionally, mentally, and most importantly, spiritually, because right now our wives need it, our kids need it, your friends need it, your teammates need it, the people at your school need it.

No co certainly needs it, our church needs it.

And you gotta be strong if you're gonna be able to stand.

That's next week.