The Value of a Man
Genesis 18:19
Albert Einstein said, “The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.”
Today, I want to talk to you about the value of a man. That includes Father’s of course. And I’m going to refer to the value of a father, but for the most part today, I want to focus on something that I believe doesn’t get enough press.
Now, most people don’t dare these days to make jokes about women - blondes, yes; different countries, yes; various differences we have in all countries and between the genders, but most people don’t slam women these days because if you do, there is quite an army of the feminist persuasion who will put you in your place rather quickly. Advertisements that put women down are usually pulled before they air to often, even they even make it off the cutting board. But sitcoms, movies and other tv shows regularly these days, depict the bumbling father, the inadequate husband, or a man who is driven only by his sexual impulses.
I believe we’ve gotten to the point in our society now, where the pendulum has swung from male supremacy, to equality, to female supremacy. Now it might not have quite caught up with us here in Minnesota yet - there are still a lot of die-hard male chauvinists in our neck of the woods, but overall, if you watch or read any of the feminist publications, it doesn’t take very long to realize that there is a call, for not just equality, but a dominance - supremacy - among large sectors of the female population.
Today, I’d like to do my part to change that. I’d like to bring some balance to a situation that I believe is out of balance, I want to talk about the VALUE of a man.
First let’s have a little fun. Here are some quotes I found about men. See if you can relate to any of these.
To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
Saying the right thing at the right time:
A man woke up in the morning with a headache and saw a rose, an Aspirin, water and a note on the bed side table written on it: ‘Breakfast is on the table I am off to the store”.
When he went down stairs he saw his son and asked him what happened last night.
His son said “Well you came home drunk and when mom tried to kiss you, you yelled ‘get off me lady i am married!’”
And then this is my favorite:
I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage. They’ve experienced pain and have bought jewelry.
Take your Bible and turn with me to Genesis 18, verse 19. Just this one verse.
This is God speaking, and he says about Abraham, “I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
Like I said, this is God speaking and I think this verse gives us the three things that are most important to God for a man. The things that God says, makes a MAN’S man! That bring a man value and worth. Let’s look at them.
First of all, the value of a man is found in,
1) His relationship with his children.
I don’t think anybody would argue with me today when I say that I believe children are VERY important to God.
Ephesians 6:4 tells us: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”
Proverbs 22:6 - Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Dad, don’t ever be ashamed of spending time with your children. And don’t ever be too busy to spend time with your children.
“I read a story about a Christian attorney. And he was talking about the influence of his father on his life. And he said, "The greatest gift my dad ever gave me was when I was a little boy. It was a small box. Inside the box was a note saying, "Son, this year I will give you 365 hours, an hour every day after supper. It’s all yours. We’ll talk about what you want to talk about. We’ll go where you want to go. Play what you want to play. It will be your hour."
"My dad not only kept his promise," the lawyer said, "but every year he renewed it. It is the greatest gift I ever had in my life. And I am the Christian man I am today because of my dad." (From James Buchanan, A Real Dad, sermon central).
Time is a gift you give that you can never get back. It’s a sacrificial gift. And that’s makes it a pleasing and acceptable gift to the Lord. You can give money, and make more. You can give things, and get more things. But when you give the gift of time - you give the best gift of all because it’s the one gift you never recover. (From James Buchanan, A Real Dad, sermon central).
Give the very best to your children. Give your time.
Because it’s not the money a man has that gives him value, it’s the time he gives that increases his worth.
The second thing this verse tells us about the value of a man is that the value of a man is found in,
2. His relationship with his family.
Children are certainly part of the family - and a very special part, and I’m sure you’ve all heard the little saying that the best thing a father can do for his children is to love his wife.
That’s more true today than when it was written.
1 Timothy 5:8 says “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
That’s pretty strong language! And I think most men do pretty well in providing for their family. I think most men work pretty hard to provide. And the context of this verse encompasses all family members - but still, Paul is writing to Timothy. And providing in this context is in terms of basic needs.
May I expand on that just a bit. The value of a man is found in how he provides spiritually for his family. Men, don’t ever get the idea that religion and spirituality is primarily a job for the women and children.
Let me even get a bit personal here. Guys - I watch you. I watch how you interact with your family. With your wife. With your children. And I can tell you straight out. I can pretty much gauge your spiritual maturity, your spiritual depth, by how you talk to your wife and children. And that’s at church! Anybody can do that - not just the pastor. Why? Because there’s only so much that a man can fake. And we all do it. We all put on different behaviors at certain times than others. And thank God we do - that’s normal and healthy and honorable. Ron is not going to talk to me exactly the same way at church that he does at home. But I can tell you this. The closer the two come together, the more secure I become in my relationship with him, and the more spiritual depth he witnesses to.
The value of a man comes in sanctifying his wife. We all know sanctify means to set apart - to make holy.
Ephesians 5, that gets so often abused in terms of wives submitting to their husbands, - let’s just look at what it says about husbands. Most likely we’re all familiar with verse 25, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her - - but there is no period there! It’s only half way through the sentence - here’s the rest - “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
There is no other way around it guys. God puts a much bigger responsibility on you, than on us women. Now I know that’s not fair in this day and age, but it’s God’s way.
What is it about your wife that you wish she wouldn’t do? What THING do you, whether openly or just in your mind, criticize about your wife - (but you tolerate it). DON’T say it out loud.
Listen - God says, as you serve your wife by the word God has given you, you cleanse her and present her to YOURSELF, as blameless. No wrinkles - not any other blemishes. Blameless.
Husbands - I’m really going to get bold here now and then we’re going to move on to my final point. Don’t leave just yet.
Listen - take this in. And let me just say - this is true of women almost as much as it is of men - although men have a lot more power in a woman’s life than what I think most men think they do these days.
Husbands - you create the wife you have. If you’ve been married a year or more, you are fashioning and creating the wife you have.
The Bible says so! You are the one who washes and cleanses her, making her holy so that you present her to yourself without stain or wrinkle - blameless.
WOW! What value is there in that!!! That is HUGE guys! I can’t begin to imagine the value of a man who does that!
I’m moving on.
The third thing we find in Genesis 18:19 is in the last part of the verse, it says, “by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
The third, and final, thing this verse tells us, is that the value of a man is found in,
3. In his relationship with God.
Obviously you know now that these are not in any particular order.
To have the promises of God a man has to do and be what God has said in the first part of the verse. And part of that is doing what is right and just. That’s his lifestyle. That’s not just his relationship with his children and his family, that’s his relationship with himself. It’s what goes on inside of him. It’s what makes him tick. Is it right and just?
There is a way that God wants men to live. It’s in Psalm 128
1 Blessed are all who fear the LORD ,
who walk in his ways.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your sons will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
Fathers - this is your day and I hope you will feel honored and blessed today.
(Men - stand)
I would like to bless you right now by saying to each man here,
You have great value.
You are loved by God.
You have the strength, the courage, and the power within you through Christ, to make a difference, - in the world, in your family, in yourself.
Walk humbly with the Lord and with your fellow man.
Don’t take yourself to seriously.
Take God very seriously.
Amen.
