A Mother’s Advice on Manhood III

Hello, glad to come your way again. Hope your weekend went well? In some parts of the world was Father’s Day.

Today, we want to continue with Bathsheba’s advice to Solomon, who was on the ascent to a king. Let us look at the Bible text in Proverbs 31:8.

“But you are to be a king who speaks up on behalf of the disenfranchised and pleads for the legal rights of the defenseless and those who are dying.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭31:8‬ ‭TPT‬‬

You know, Solomon’s advice was being a good man, which should be the core of who he is. The core of who a man is, will definitely affect the quality of his leadership. So before Solomon will become a king, this quality of defending the defenseless should be first seen. Leadership sometimes doesn’t afford you the space to be something new or develop a new set of skills. It rather capitalizes on who you are, what you have, and then amplify those.

One thing we should know in this life is, there abounds many disenfranchised people who will never be in a position such as yours; people affected by systemic racism, people who don’t have economic opportunities, those who lack an education, the marginalized in society… and so on, and so forth.

The reality is, we live with these people and as people who may be a step above them. We must use our influence for the good of mankind. That is what makes one a leader in his community. Solomon’s mother advised her son to speak up for the unprivileged and plead their cause.

This to me talks about empathy. It is different from sympathy, which has to do with feeling sorry for a person or the condition he finds himself in. This rather deals with understanding the situation of a person by putting yourself in his shoes, then coming up with a solution to remedy that. Real men empathize! Sometimes, we paint a toxic picture of masculinity which promotes not been in touch with our emotions.

Our influence should not only cater to the powerful, privileged, the educated or the enfranchised. You make no difference or affect people’s lives for the better if these are the class or group you always want to be associated with. The other truth we should know is, they are just the minority of the world’s population. Our leadership and influence will then cease to be effective and irrelevant.

Life has a greater purpose and meaning when we stop living for ourselves and think of the next man’s plight, and how we can help make the world a better place for them. Without empathy, man will keep living selfishly thinking of “me, myself and I” which is really an empty shell of living. People who don’t think of other people are the most miserable and loneliest.

I pray that whoever reads this, especially men, will learn to empathize with people’s pain and misfortune, and then use our influence for the betterment of lives. It helps one become a better husband, father, son, brother, work colleague, leader… and a better man.

Speak up for the defenseless! Plead the cause of justice for those deprived! Our strong arms and chiseled physique we may have worked out in the gym shouldn’t only be featured in Men’s Health magazines or GQ for that matter, but should bear the weak and the in-firmed among us. You are not to solve the world’s problems, but you can help that friend, neighbor or whoever you know with your influence for a right cause.

May God continue to bless and prosper our plans!

I hope you were blessed by today’s post and learnt something. I will appreciate your feedback in the comments section.

Please like and share today’s post. Subscribe to this blog too, if you haven’t.

Till, I come your way again…

Peace & Love