Welcome to week two of "Real Man Monday." Last week, we discussed understanding what God requires of us to become a man of God.

Caution

Weeds grow quickly, but oak trees take years. If you want a quick fix to becoming a man of God, these videos are not for you. However, if you realize that becoming a man of God takes a lifetime, let's get started together.

Goal

To slowly grow into a man of God, one week at a time. Each week, we will look at a different aspect of being a man of God.

Let's Review

What is a man? Chuck Norris. What is a man of God? God's Word says in Micah 6:8,

"Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God."

‭‭‬According to God, a man of God acts justly, loves faithfulness, and walks humbly with God.

• Acts Justly- A protector of what is right and good. A defender.
• Loves Faithfulness- Someone who is consistent. Dependable. Someone you can count on.
• Walk Humbly Before the Lord- Someone who follows the Lord in submits to His leadership.

Today's topic: What's the First Step In Leading Myself Well?

God's plan for all of us is to lead in four different arenas.

1. We lead those who are coming up behind us.
2. We lead our communities.
3. We lead our families.
4. We lead ourselves well.

Throughout these videos, we will spend a lot of time on all four areas. For now, we will work on the hardest one: leading ourselves.

Most of us struggle to lead ourselves well because we tend to judge others by their actions, but we judge ourselves by our intentions.

If you can learn to lead yourself well, you will be trusted to lead in those other areas. So here we go. Here is the first step to leading ourselves well. Jesus said in Matthew 7:24- 27:

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.”

The first way we lead ourselves well is to build our lives on God's Word consistently.

Here are three reasons why a man of God builds His life on God's Word:

God's Word gives us direction.

The Psalmist said, "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." When searching for the right direction in our life, we can live by the principles found in God's Word to guide us. We can live by these principles; even if we make the wrong decision, God's good promises will still help us fall in the right direction.

God's Word gives us hope.

God has given us hope when facing any difficulty. God's Word is full of promises to help us meet every challenge. The challenge is to know these promises and stand on them. Then, lead others to do the same. Our hope comes from standing on these promises in the storms of life and watching God be faithful. Then our hope turns to confidence.

God's Word gives us warning.

God's Word gives us guardrails for life, so we don't crash and burn. It also helps us, so we know where the enemies are and where the places of rest are. God warns us to stay away from certain things because He knows where the potholes in life are.

Therefore, the first step in 'leveling up' as a man of God is to be led by God's Word and to do so consistently.

This week's challenge!

For 7 days, don't miss reading your Bible every day.
Right now, our church is reading through the Bible together. We'll send you the daily Bible reading as a text message if you text "rlcBible" to 94000.

You can also go to www.experienceRLC.com/the-bible to see the daily Bible reading plan and learn how to do a form of Bible study called "SOAP."

Read God's Word every day and watch it slowly transform your thinking. You'll get to the place where you look forward to hearing God's Word daily. It takes time.

Don't forget: A weed can grow overnight, but it takes years to grow an Oak tree. So, let's start reading God's Word and watch it transform us from the inside out.