Rarely do we hear a Christian man called a “man of God” anymore. Few men in our day live with the kind of sincere humility, biblical conviction, and God-centered passion that would merit such a description. We are more self-centered than Christ-centered. Many years ago, while living in Scotland, I came under an extraordinary level of conviction about my own pride and selfishness (and often still do!). So I began jotting down various biblical characteristics of a godly man. The result is the list below (A list which I recently shared at the Christ Church Men's Retreat).

Men of Christ Church, please pray that we would all, in ever increasing measure, and by the grace of God, be transformed into the men that God has called us to be for own His glory. May we rest fully, by faith, in the work of Christ for our redemption. And May we respond to God's sovereign grace (by His Spirit and grace) with wonder, love, praise, and childlike obedience to His Word.

A Man of God is ...

1. A humble servant who views others as more important than himself (Phil. 2:3).

2. One who is careful with his words and speaks with kindness, humility, and love; always looking to encourage and build up others rather than tear them down (Eph: 4:29).

3. One who does not compare himself with others (2 Cor. 12:7-10).

4. One who seeks God in times of anxiety and stress, not the entertainment of the world (Psalm 40:4).

5. One who treats his wife with utmost love, respect, and kindness, both in public and in private (I Peter 3:7).

6. One who rejoices in the wife of his youth and not in any other woman at any other time (Proverbs 5:18-20).

7. One who flees from evil and temptation and does not flirt with it (Matthew 6:13).

8. One who is guided by the Word of God and prayer, not his own fallen reason or the wisdom of this world (Romans 12:1-2).

9. One who receives criticism with humility (Proverbs 6:23).

10. One who cares for God’s glory, the Church, and the lost more than his own prosperity and earthly comforts (Phil. 1:12-14).

11. One who is more concerned to put a smile on the face of God than on the face of man (Gal. 1:10).

12. One who is lovingly honest and forthright (Exodus 20:16).

13. One who reads, meditates upon, and studies God’s Word with zeal and consistency (Psalm 119:25-32; II Timothy 3:16-17).

14. One who treats his body as a temple of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 6:16-17).

15. One who is diligent and faithful in the workplace – looking to glorify God and not self in the process (Col. 3:17).

16. One who faithfully and consistently spends personal time in the scriptures, leads his wife and children in regular family worship, and joyfully brings his family to Lord’s Day worship Sunday after Sunday, morning and evening–– knowing that the God-ordained and ordinary means of Word, sacraments, and prayer are necessary and sufficient for life, growth, joy, comfort, and godliness (Mk. 1:35; Deut. 6:6-9; 10:24-25).

17. One who finds His salvation, security, contentment, and satisfaction in Christ and His completed work of redemption alone (Phil. 1:21; 3:7-11).

Men of Christ Church Charleston, take time to pray over these characteristics and look up the verses that I have attached to each one (a perfect activity for a Lord’s Day afternoon). And remember what Christ says in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Pastor Jon