November 5, 1996
Dear Br. Abbott:
I trust that Christ is blessing you and your wife with health, prosperity, and happiness and that your business is prospering also. God is so wonderful and merciful to us that He often blesses, especially when we don’t deserve it, which is all the time. It can never be said that we can claim, as our right, any thing from the Lord; only by faith, can we approach Him with our petitions and have confidence that He hears and gives us what we need when we need it the most. It is because of His self-sacrifice, on the cross, that we have life and hope of eternity; let us, therefore, praise the Lord daily for His unearned favors.
Most men do not realize the blessings the Lord showers upon us
each day. One of the richest and most rewarding blessing, that
the Lord of glory has us given men, is the privilege of being
the lawgiver and priest or spiritual leader of the family. This
is a very demanding responsibility and one that we, as men, dare
not shirt. Our households are watching our example, to see if
we will discharge our responsibility faithfully. As the first
born son, in ancient times, was given the birthright and inheritance,
so men, today, are given the spiritual birthright but with this
position comes the obligation of living for Christ in such a way
that our families, and especially our sons, may be trained for
service for the Lord.
We must at all times exhibit a manly bearing, endeavoring to exemplify,
in our own daily conduct, those sterner virtues of energy, integrity,
honesty, patience, courage, diligence and practical usefulness
that exemplify a Christian man. These are the virtues that our
sons ought to learn from our example that will qualify them to
lead their own little flock. Men should model these virtues to
other men, with gentleness and encouragement, that they may also
be lead to replicate them in their own homes; God requires nothing
less from his designated spiritual leaders.
As a virtue, energy is defined as the capacity for being active,
to work, or to work effectively. Traditionally, it was and still
is the responsibility of men to earn a living, while our wives
raise the children for the Lord and maintain the homestead. If
a man is sickly, through neglect of the eight laws of health,
or does not have good work habits, is lazy, or ineffective in
his work, his family suffers and he casts contempt upon the Lord
who is constantly working to maintain the world in its orbit,
to keep the sun shining, and the law of gravity operating, not
to mention, effecting our salvation.
Integrity is a firm adherence to a set of moral or spiritual values.
Incorruptibility is another word for integrity. It means that
men, especially Christian men, can not be corrupted or enticed
away from moral or ethical values to commit sins, especially the
sins of the flesh, as Paul defines them. To have such a firm set
of ethical values, one must first identify those virtues that
are worthy of maintaining. The Bible, especially the book of Proverbs,
contains such a code of morality ; the man who identifies these
traits as standards to guide his life and then, with the aid of
the Lord, maintains them, as Joseph did in Egypt, even at the
cost of freedom, is a man worthy of commendation. His wife and
family can safely trust in his fidelity and constituency as husband
and father.
To be know for telling the truth, as George Washington was known,
is a priceless virtue. It used to be a common saying that a man
was as good as his word; to tell the truth and nothing but the
truth is expected of all Christians who name the name of Christ.
The world and our families have a right to expect veracity to
exemplify our lives, but the truth must be told in love. There
are ways of telling speaking that wound and hurt more then heal
and restore.
Patience under adversity, delay, boredom, perplexity and temptation
is a manly virtue that should characterize all of Christ’s
faithful soldiers. While we wait for orders from the Lord or for
circumstances to resolve themselves, we must always refrain from
impatient, fretful, censuring words that wound the soul and bruise
the spirit. A manly bearing stands patiently all adversity with
a smile, an encouraging word or friendly attitude; when others
see our patience, they are encouraged to maintain a calm bearing
amid their own trials and disappointments.
The dictionary defines courage as mental or moral strength to
venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, and adversity.
We no longer have wild bears to fight or Indian attacks to defend
against but we have no less courageous situations to confront
today. We must have strength to venture something for the Lord,
to hold our families together through love and a consistent attitude
and manly bearing, and to persevere in withstanding the multitudinous
assaults upon our households from all directions. Many forces
would destroy us, not through physical danger, although there
is plenty of that, but through moral threats, of which there is
an abundance. Often this latter type is more taxing then the physical.
Moral dangers are, in many respects, more wearing and exhausting
to resist then are the dangers of a criminal assault or fire hazard.
Diligence, assiduity, or persevering application to a task or
to teaching moral values to our children is a manly virtue that
most men have relegated to their wives who are busy with other
things. To persevere in our insistence on high moral standards
from ourselves, our children, and our wives, when we and they
would rather lower the expectations, is a most challenge for which
God has qualified us to fulfill with fidelity and faithfulness,
if we lean upon Him for strength.
In a former age, men were expected to maintain themselves and
their families on the frontier without reliance on outside help
or assistance. They were expected to know how to shoe horses,
repair harness, plow the field, plant the crops, repair the roof,
grub out stumps, milk the cow, butcher the hog, cure hams in the
smoke house, and a thousand other things that allowed the family
to survive in the hostile environment found all to frequently
in the west. The parallels to our times are obvious, but how many
men are equally as adept at maintaining the homestead as were
our less esteemed forbearers? With so many how-to-book fix it
books on the market, men ought to have the practical skills necessary
to maintain their cars and homes without resorting to the auto
mechanic or plumber, electrician or washing machine repairman.
These are the more prominent virtues required of men, but how
many of us fail to exemplify them in our lives? Our fathers may
not have taught us these skills for they may not have known them
either, however, when we take the time to acquire these virtues,
especially heath, which lies at the foundation of many of them,
we become more successful as leaders of our homes, churches, and
communities.
It is time to redeem the past and work for the Lord in our positions
as husbands and fathers. It is never too late to repair our neglected
opportunities; Christ expects that we shall be all that we can
be as men in his cause. When repairing the car, fixing the leaky
faucet, or repairing faulty wiring, we are as Christ-like as when
preaching, teaching a Sabbath lesson or witnessing to our neighbors.
We may be viewed as more Christ-like when our homes operate efficiently,
then if we are efficient at giving Bible studies, when our homes
are in need of an extensive overhaul.
There is much work to do for the Lord, therefore, let us get busy
and do it, but let us first begin in our own neglected field,
ourselves. May Christ bless you in all that you do. Your brother
in Christ.
Allen A. Benson