“A man is a man because he can cry”

The Craftsman from Little House on the Prairie

This is to the bros, and gents out their that deal with a very common inner conflict….

Their own hearts.

“You aren’t a tough guy if you express hurt.”

You are called a number of names for actually having a beating heart — one that sees deeper than the first level of the thing.

You are even left out of gatherings because you don’t fit in.

I can relate.

I have faced that. Especially as a “sensitive” kid.

Utter rubbish it is.

If you didn’t have a heart with emotions; you didn’t know the meaning of gentle, and if you didn’t practice deep consideration for others… could I call you a gentleman right now?

No.

You are though.

Your pains, needs, and wants are there for a reason. Being in touch with them doesn’t make you weak at all.

Rather, it shows your strength far more than you know.

You are strong because you are gentle.

Think about this.

If you know how to be appropriate with what to say, and what to do in a situation (regardless if it is turning a screwdriver, or just having a conversation) — you are being gentle. You are not using all of the power you could be.

If you were — you would strip damn near every screw, and blow out your voice on the daily.

Being gentle is not being weak… it is the awareness of what is appropriate to express in terms of power in a situation, and making sure you don’t go beyond what is necessary.

How could you do that if you didn’t pay attention to what was going on in your own spirit?

We often gauge the world through the way things affect ourselves. Gentlemen do at least.

We don’t just react… we respond, as it should be.

We take this into account.

So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;

James 1:19

Very often there is the expectation for masculinity to be at the forefront of the thing. I can see why people don’t like that kind.

It doesn’t give space for people to feel safe, and it doesn’t let them feel comfortable speaking in an environment dominated by it.

But….

That’s not true masculinity.

That’s a cope out to the real thing, where pride and envy take the place of humility and contentment.

Being tenderhearted isn’t being a pushover, or any of the other nasty terms called to men — or anyone for that matter — rather it is just being considerate and even keeled.

True strength is found in the power of one’s resolve to be meek; to be good; to keep hoping even when the reasons for doing so are muddled about; to lose with dignity (especially when you did everything you could that was right in the fight for something), and lastly — sometimes — to let go even if you could keep hanging on.

That’s a man.

That’s a man that takes after the Man of God, Jesus Christ.

That’s what I wish to see more of in the world, and I feel that the more who learn to sit down and be humble — the better the world will be.

Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 1:5, WEB

Sometimes… strength is not defined in force; rather, it is defined by the “force” of the grace that you let rule you.

As it was, and is, for the most gentle Gentleman of all….

But you did not learn Christ that way; if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Ephesians 4:20-24, WEB

Jesus.

So, Gentlemen….

Shall you remain gentle?

I’ll let you answer that.

Peace.