✝️ The Morning I Traded Pity for Power

Good morning, brothers - This has been a challenging week, to be honest. I’ve connected with several men, both in person and through text, who are going through painful seasons in their lives. These conversations have repeatedly reminded me of a discussion I had with a friend many years ago—one that changed me more profoundly than any other conversation I've ever had, aside from when the Gospel was first shared with me. I want to share what the Lord taught me through that experience, hoping it might encourage you. Let’s go!

This week’s manly topics (5-min read):

⛑️ MIND SET At a very low point in my life, God taught me I had to choose to either be a victim or enjoy Christ’s victory … but I could not have both. Neither can you.
📰  NEWS HO-HO-Heart disease is on our radar this week (Merry Christmas!) as are two bits of cultural good news and a gear review.
🎁 OFFER This week’s sponsor, anti-aging brand Timeline, has a special offer that will help MTM subscribers enjoy make sure you enjoy vitality every day God gifts you.

MIND SET
God crashed my pity party and changed my life

The Wake-Up Call I Didn’t Want

I’ll never forget that morning in 2016 at the coffee shop with Clint, one of my best friends and accountability partner. I was going through a painful season, whining and complaining, blaming others for my problems. I was in full-on “victim mode.”

He and I met weekly during this time. Week after week, Clint listened patiently as I poured out my heart and offered biblical wisdom and encouragement. But this week was different—and I didn't like it at all.

Midway through my pity party, he stopped me. He said he didn’t want to hear any more about what others had done “to me” or how I was wronged. He told me plainly that playing the victim had to stop. It was getting me nowhere and wasn't what a man of God should do in tough times.

Instead, he challenged me to ask two simple questions: How do You want me to change, Lord? Where am I missing the mark as a man of God and how have I failed in this situation?

In full transparency, I left the coffee shop angry that morning. It felt so good to play the victim and blame others. Clint’s suggestion that I was wrong and had a major part in this painful season felt like a betrayal.

Yet that morning became one of the most important of my life. His counsel, shared in genuine love, changed my trajectory. God used Clint to change my life.

God’s Training Transforms Weakness into Strength

After I got home and the initial anger subsided, I considered that maybe I needed to change and God had allowed this painful season for a reason. I remembered a passage from Hebrews 12:

I researched the Greek word for discipline, paideia, which means the act of training, instructing, or guiding to bring someone to maturity. Cross-referencing my notes on 1 Timothy 1:20, discipline was further defined as strengthening, purifying, correcting, and perfecting. The Holy Spirit opened my eyes to a new way of seeing life's struggles.

Will You Make Your Appointment at God’s Gym?

What's your initial response to painful seasons, struggles, disappointment, and discouragement? Would you have been right there with me that morning, whining and blaming others? Do you curl up questioning how God could allow such things? Maybe you “medicate” with alcohol or pornography, thinking escape will help you cope.

What if, instead of these destructive responses that lead deeper into darkness, you viewed dark seasons as Clint and the writer of Hebrews suggest? What if you saw difficulties, as painful as they are, as opportunities for growth and maturity, moving you toward becoming the man God has called you to be?

What if you found purpose in your pain and embraced the training aspect that’s key to understanding Hebrews 12:11?

This mindset shift might not change your circumstances, but it will transform your perspective through the struggle, draw you closer to the Lord, and help you become more like Jesus—which is always God's best for you.

You’ve likely heard we’re either going through challenges, about to face them, or just emerging from them. Wherever you are, I challenge you as Clint challenged me: change your perspective when life is hard and challenges seem endless. Ask God to teach and train you during this time, knowing you’ll emerge to experience that “harvest of righteousness and peace.”

When you are suffering, consider these perspective-changing actions:

1. Trust confidently that God can use your struggle purposefully for good (2 Corinthians 4:17)

2. Ask God to show you how to become more like Jesus (Hebrews 12:10)

3. Praise God during tough seasons (Psalm 28:6-8)

4. Pray for others involved instead of blaming them (Matthew 5:44)

5. Remember satan is your real enemy, using pain to try to destroy you (Ephesians 6:12)

6. Know this season will pass (Psalm 27:13-14)

7. Keep eternal perspective—in Christ, you’ll dwell forever where there’s no pain, hardship, or tears (Revelation 21:4)

This week’s action plan:

1. Read Hebrews 12:7-11 and ask God to show you His perspective on this tough season.

2. Meditate on Psalm 27:13-14 and recognize that joy comes in the morning and that this struggle will end at some point.

3. Memorize Hebrews 12:11 so you can return to this truth in difficult times.

4. Worship as you listen to The Hurt & The Healer by MercyMe.

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THIS JUST IN
📣 NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB 📣 

Training
“For physical training is of some value …” 1 Timothy 4:8

• A 30-year study of more than 116,000 U.S. adults showed that a weekly minimum of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity (or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity) produced a 25% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. This is significant because 1) cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and 2) withering away with a weak, diseased heart is a terrible way to finish the race. Courtesy American Heart Association

Nutrition
“… your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit …” 1 Corinthians 6:19

• On the topic of heart disease, we used to think eggs, and specifically egg yolks, were a factor. Turns out, not so much. In fact, when we take into account the nutrient-dense nature of egg yolks, you are better off eating them than you are tossing them in the disposal … just don’t bust out an egg salad sandwich on an airplane 🤢 Courtesy Healthline Media

Culture
“You are the salt of the earth.” Matthew 5:13

• Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. This follow-up from the group that brought us Sound of Freedom explores the short, complicated and immensely consequential life of German pastor, theologian and Hitler assassination conspirator, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). Find theaters and showtimes near you.

• As much as corporate media would like us to believe youth culture is hopelessly secularized, young Christian men are pursuing Jesus through Christianity’s earliest faith tradition, the Greek Orthodox church. Courtesy The New York Post

Gear
“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21

• We’ve known for a long time that listening to music makes exercise more pleasant and productive. Our “phones” put every song ever recorded within reach. All you need now are speakers and you are freed from listening to your gym’s garbage music. Check out this gym-ready headphone and earbud guide courtesy of CNET.