I’ve heard that Nashville, Tennessee is listed as the manliest city in America (according to Combo the hearty, salty, cheese cracker snack, and Bart Sperling’s Best Places).  I live in Music City and so I’m glad to see it at the top of a Best Places list.  However, I have my own views of what it takes to be manly.

I believe that the greatest evidence of manliness is illustrated by this quote about the greatest man who ever walked on Earth:  “Real men love Jesus.”  Of course, the word love here means more than emotionalism or religious sentiment.  It means a practical and actual following and obeying Jesus (and His lifestyle) in our daily lives.  Now that is terribly tough! 

Yep, it takes tremendous manliness to follow and obey Christ. You have to battle your own desires and cravings.  Anybody can surrender to his whims and lusts, but it takes a real man to overcome them. 

Following Christ requires you to resist the seduction of modern media,  You can’t go along with the crowd, with the cool, and with the corruption.

You even have to guard against and overcome your own thoughts, if you want to follow Jesus.  He said:  “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.”  Whew!  Now that requires real courage, commitment, and manliness!

You’ve got to resist the devil.  It is so easy to be passive and silent, but a real man will stand up for what he believes and speak the truth in love.

On top of it all, if you truly follow Christ, you’ve got to find the inner resources to love people when they persecute you and put you down.  You have to forgive.  Jesus even said to “Bless those who curse you.” 

What a man!  Immanuel, God in the flesh.  What an example of real manliness!  What a calling to live like Him (whether male or female).  Who will man up and answer Christ’s call to follow Him, not just in religious preference, but in the way you live your everyday life?