{"id":742,"date":"2016-04-03T16:02:19","date_gmt":"2016-04-03T21:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tjdaughertyblog.wordpress.com\/?p=49"},"modified":"2016-04-03T16:02:19","modified_gmt":"2016-04-03T21:02:19","slug":"when-i-became-a-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/when-i-became-a-man\/","title":{"rendered":"When I Became A Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.<\/em> \u2013 1 Corinthians 13:11<\/p>\n

WHEN I BECAME A MAN<\/p>\n

There is a dramatic difference between boyhood and manhood. It\u2019s not all that difficult to notice, because spiritual manhood is lacking in our world today. Men stand out. Men are different. Men are few and far between.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not talking about pseudo-manhood that our society portrays in Hollywood that suggests that in order to be a man you have to blow things up, lift heavy weights, and sleep with multiple women.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m talking about being a real man. A mature disciple of Christ who can lead and love a woman.<\/p>\n

When I was a child (not so long ago), I spoke like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child. While it was probably true of just about every area of my life, it was\u00a0most clearly apparent in my relationships. I was a product of my culture. I wanted to date the hot girl. I wanted to be with the girl who made all the other guys jealous. I wanted everyone to talk about how attractive she was. I was willing to look past a number of shortcomings as long as she looked good enough.<\/p>\n

Because I was a child.<\/p>\n

In fact, I let physical attractiveness dictate my interests in dating. I knew that charm was deceptive and that beauty was fleeting. I knew that spiritual depth, emotional maturity, a fun personality, compatibility, and a heart seeking after Christ were more important. But in my heart, I didn\u2019t care. I wanted to be with the hot girl. Because I was a child.<\/p>\n

Time and time again I convinced myself that I was better off talking to the really pretty girl that I saw at the coffee shop or wearing borderline inappropriate attire at the gym instead of the girl who went to bed at 10:00 every night and got up early to memorize Scripture. Because I was a child.<\/p>\n

I justified conversations with girls who were infant believers at best or open and aware unbelievers at worst because I found them attractive. I didn\u2019t care that there was no real future with them. All I cared about was that they were appealing to the eye. Because I was a child.<\/p>\n

I claimed to be looking for a wife. In reality, I was just looking for a good-looking girl to entertain me long enough for me to find the next one.<\/p>\n

Praise God that he didn\u2019t leave my relationships in my hands. Praise God for that. It was never going to end well for me. Because I was a child. But after years of frustration and disappointment, it was time for me to become a man.<\/p>\n

God began to do a work on my heart. He began to work on my heart to turn me into a man. And when I became a man, I gave up those childish ways. I stopped speaking and thinking and reasoning like a child. I stopped letting the vanity of our culture shape the way that I looked at every female I came across. I stopped being interested in girls and started becoming interested in finding a woman. I stopped letting physical appearance be the barometer for how interested I was in a relationship. Because as a man, those childish ways of thinking had to become a thing of the past.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m now very happily married to an INCREDIBLE woman. She gets up earlier than I do and is in her Bible before I can even crawl out of bed. She has it all together while I struggle to survive the day. She challenges and encourages me. She is generous and caring and willing to serve and always thinking about anyone but herself. She is intelligent and friendly and athletic and funny and pleasant to be around.<\/p>\n

My wife also happens to be very attractive. She\u2019s easy to look at. But that is not the first thing you notice about her simply because she doesn\u2019t throw it in your face. When I first met her at the gym, she was wearing a loose-fitting t-shirt and shorts that almost went down to her knees. She wasn\u2019t accentuating her physical features with her clothes or flashing skin to get attention. Because she wasn\u2019t interested in finding a child. She didn\u2019t want a boy. She wanted a man.<\/p>\n

She got me interested with her work ethic, her attitude, her friendliness, her smile, and her personality. She stole my heart with her heart for Christ, her spiritual discipline, and her emotional maturity. She is also physically attractive, and that\u2019s important. But it is not the foundation of our relationship.<\/p>\n

I find my wife very physically attractive. But that\u2019s not why I love her. It\u2019s not even why I became interested in her. None of that stuff defines her. At some point in the far-distant future, age will begin to rob her of the physical beauty that so captures my eye when I look at her. That\u2019s part of life. But age can never rob her of her fear of the Lord. Age can\u2019t take away her passion for serving. Age can never steal her willingness to love me in spite of my myriad of shortcomings.<\/p>\n

I love my wife more than I ever thought possible. And I appreciate things about her that I never could have seen if I focused on her appearance.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so glad that God didn\u2019t let her meet me while I was still handling my relationships like a child. I know that I would never be with my wife if I hadn\u2019t put away those childish ways.<\/p>\n

Because the woman of my dreams wasn\u2019t interested in finding a child. She wanted a real man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a dramatic difference between boyhood and manhood. It\u2019s not all that difficult to notice, because spiritual manhood is lacking in our world today. Men stand out. Men are different. Men are few and far between.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":673,"featured_media":53,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-742","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-marriage-relationships","8":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2016\/04\/daugherty-0422.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":301,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/before-the-first-date\/","url_meta":{"origin":742,"position":0},"title":"Before The First Date","author":"TJ Daugherty","date":"June 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Wise and mature marriage preparation begins even before the first date. Because the way you view and interact with the opposite sex does not change once a serious dating or prospective marriage relationship is established.","rel":"","context":"In "Marriage \/ Relationships"","block_context":{"text":"Marriage \/ Relationships","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/category\/marriage-relationships\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/06\/singleness.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/06\/singleness.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/06\/singleness.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/06\/singleness.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/06\/singleness.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":327,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/the-miracle-of-christmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":742,"position":1},"title":"The Miracle of Christmas","author":"TJ Daugherty","date":"December 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The incarnation, when deeply considered, is the most amazing miracle in all of Scripture. It truly is the miracle of Christmas. And it is a miracle worth celebrating.","rel":"","context":"In "Theological"","block_context":{"text":"Theological","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/category\/theological\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/12\/Away-in-a-Manger.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/12\/Away-in-a-Manger.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/12\/Away-in-a-Manger.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":331,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/new-life-new-york-a-new-perspective\/","url_meta":{"origin":742,"position":2},"title":"New Life, New York, & A New Perspective","author":"TJ Daugherty","date":"February 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"One morning, my life changed forever. And I knew it would never be the same again.","rel":"","context":"In "Marriage \/ Relationships"","block_context":{"text":"Marriage \/ Relationships","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/category\/marriage-relationships\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/02\/ultrasound-of-baby-body-in-mothers-womb_s0vw7kplg_thumbnail-full01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/02\/ultrasound-of-baby-body-in-mothers-womb_s0vw7kplg_thumbnail-full01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/02\/ultrasound-of-baby-body-in-mothers-womb_s0vw7kplg_thumbnail-full01.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/02\/ultrasound-of-baby-body-in-mothers-womb_s0vw7kplg_thumbnail-full01.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/02\/ultrasound-of-baby-body-in-mothers-womb_s0vw7kplg_thumbnail-full01.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/02\/ultrasound-of-baby-body-in-mothers-womb_s0vw7kplg_thumbnail-full01.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":770,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/a-theological-lesson-from-pregnancy\/","url_meta":{"origin":742,"position":3},"title":"A Theological Lesson From Pregnancy","author":"TJ Daugherty","date":"June 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A THEOLOGICAL LESSON FROM PREGNANCY I\u2019ll never forget the day I found out that my wife was pregnant. The day I knew my life would be forever changed. But somewhere between the day I found out we were going to be having a child and the day of her arrival\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marriage \/ Relationships"","block_context":{"text":"Marriage \/ Relationships","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/category\/marriage-relationships\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/06\/Pregnancy-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/06\/Pregnancy-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/06\/Pregnancy-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/06\/Pregnancy-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2019\/06\/Pregnancy-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":211,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/lost\/","url_meta":{"origin":742,"position":4},"title":"Lost","author":"TJ Daugherty","date":"May 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I used to play baseball. Then I didn't. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, I was suddenly lost.","rel":"","context":"In "Practical"","block_context":{"text":"Practical","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/category\/practical\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2017\/05\/profile-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":306,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/just-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":742,"position":5},"title":"Just Friends","author":"TJ Daugherty","date":"July 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Friendship is one of God\u2019s greatest gifts to man. In fact, friendship is a foundational component of all healthy relationships. But if not properly guarded, friendship can be extremely dangerous. That\u2019s why men and women should never truly be \"just friends.\"","rel":"","context":"In "Marriage \/ Relationships"","block_context":{"text":"Marriage \/ Relationships","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/category\/marriage-relationships\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/07\/friends1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/07\/friends1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/07\/friends1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2018\/07\/friends1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/673"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}