There are times along our journey when God calls us to stand in the authority of His Son; to engage in spiritual warfare against the enemy of our souls and shout with authority, “Enough—thus far and no more!” This is not something we should take lightly, because there is not an earthly power that rivals that of satan, and whenever he wages war against one of God’s children, he does so by trying to intimidate and paralyze us through fear. We need God to fight the battle.

In 1 Samuel, we read the awesome account of the confrontation of David and Goliath. The scene unfolds where David is asked by his father to bring some food down to the battle at Ephes-Dammin, which literally means “edge of blood.” At this point in the story, Goliath has been relentlessly taunting the army of Israel for thirty-nine straight days, simply beating them down through intimidation and fear. David walks into the scene on the fortieth day as Goliath continues to curse and intimidate the army of Israel. This shepherd boy looks back at one of the soldiers and says, “Who does this guy think he is and what do I get for shutting this fool up?” David stands before this giant enemy of Israel, picks up five stones and with divine line of sight, sends a stone deep into the head of Goliath sending him to his death on the ground.

There are giants in our land that aren’t supposed to be there!

Goliath’s formidable size and arrogant boasting intimidated Israel’s army, and because God’s anointing had fallen from King Saul, he was unable to respond with courage to Goliath’s charge of intimidation and paralyzing fear. God’s anointing had fallen on David, who was just a young simple shepherd boy but was mighty in spirit. David did not tremble at the size or shouts of Goliath—he saw Goliath through God’s eyes. David had righteous anger for the disrespect shown to the armies of the living God. David did not weigh the risk of failure because his faith was resting totally in God. Learning that these are merely the tactics of the enemy designed to instill fear will allow us to stand firm in God’s power to overcome anything that comes against us.

I love the scene from J. R. R Tolkien’s “The Return of the King” where Aragon is desperately outnumbered. He looks fear right in the eye and finds the strength to inspire his men against what seems like an almost certain defeat against the massive forces of the enemy. Standing firm and riding in front of his army, he declares,

I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when the courage of men fails,
when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship,
…but it is not this day! This day we fight!
By all that you hold dear on this good earth,
I bid you stand…

Sounds so easy in the movies, doesn’t it? Ambrose Redmoon defines courage as not having the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. “God, I am afraid, but give me the courage to push through my fears, the burdens of a passive spirit and the regret of my past failures.” It was time for me to take up the sword of the Spirit, the word of God and to go to war on behalf of righteousness; it was time to begin the battle for my children! All this stuff, the garbage that has burdened my life for so long and all the generational issues that had been passed down, had to end with me. I did not want any of this to be passed down to my children, and I asked the Lord to do whatever He needed to do in my life to free my children of these chains and burdens that I have carried for so long. Unfortunately, I had to walk through another failed marriage for me to really get this. To break free of old patterns, to stand up and become the man God called me to be.

Men, we have to be intentional when it comes to stepping into our authentic manhood in Jesus Christ. There’s way too much life turbulence out there to just get by. We will fail or under deliver — as a husband or a dad if we don’t have a compass or some guideposts. If your life is to have purpose, then you must live it courageously from your heart men!

Great, where do I start?

What compass?

What guideposts?

There are so many narratives out there regarding “what is authentic manhood?”, but wanted to share 15 principles that will help put things in perspective for you from the Great Men’s Adventure ministry.

The 15 Principles Of Manhoodⁱ:
1) Males are born while men are forged.
2) A man is responsible for all of his choices.
3) The only constant in a man’s world is change.
4) Every man is of infinite worth.
5) A man has the courage to do what is necessary.
6) A man is dedicated to continuous learning.
7) Manhood demands a courageous self-honesty.
8) A man shapes his world.
9) A man predicts his future by creating it.
10) A man accepts that to live is to be challenged.
11) A man never stands alone unless he’s making a stand.
12) A man knows when to humbly face his errors.
13) A man keeps on trying until he gets it right.
14) A man lives by a set of standards and principles.
15) A man submits to an authority beyond himself.

To sum it up men, we have to be intentional in everything we do because men are being taken out every day! We have to stay close to God to fight the battles and we NEED other men to take the journey with us in a brotherhood!

Are you ready to start living by these principles?