Men are wired for achievement. Ultimately, God made us this way so that we would pursue and achieve his purposes for our lives.
But there are a lot of reasons why men struggle to achieve the goals for which God made them.
- We’re easily distracted by both opportunities and threats.
- We’re criticized when we choose to follow God’s plan at any cost.
- We’re often overwhelmed by the responsibilities of manhood.
Here are some words of wisdom for men who want to fulfill their God-given destinies and achieve his purposes . . .
1. Keep on working in spite of the distractions.
There are multiple kinds of distractions men face. Some are subtle and some are obvious, but we manage, often, to fall for both.
Positive distractions come in the form of opportunities to do more things than we were made to do. Often, these are “good” opportunities, except that they aren’t the opportunities God has led us to pursue. We get busy. We get overwhelmed. And we start finding our identity in work and business and secondary pursuits.
Negative distractions come in the form of enticement to sin, to slack off from our responsibilities, or to substitute our own plans for God’s. When we start thinking in rebellious ways such as, how can I get out from under the authorities God has placed in my life, including God himself, we’re in trouble.
Here’s a good leadership law: the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
2. Keep on working in spite of defamation.
Anybody that sets big goals is going to be criticized and slandered by people who set no goals.
Who is the most falsely accused man in history? Jesus. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11 KJV)
The secret to deflecting criticism is ultimately to make sure you’re building God’s kingdom and not your own. When you’re building your own Kingdom, you’re easily threatened. You’re easily given to pride. And you protect your turf out of fear that you’ll lose what you’re building.
When you’re building God’s Kingdom, you know that it’s all ultimately God’s responsibility and that the credit all belongs with God. So when people criticize it, you’re able to remember that God can handle it. He will be vindicated and it’s not ultimately about you.
Don’t let criticism distract you from God’s purposes. Keep working on the will of God.
3. Keep on working in spite of danger.
If Satan can’t get us sidetracked, and slander doesn’t work, he’ll try to scare us. And you can’t give in to fear and become a super achiever at the same time.
Fear leads us to become defensive, and men who are always defensive are never leading people well.
There are real dangers that we face, and those dangers require a certain sense of caution and wisdom, but we can’t avoid risk or live to avoid pain. When we do, we miss out on the adventure of becoming the men God has called us to be.
The truth is, many of the greatest achievements in your life lie just past the object of your fear. If you can, in God’s power, push past the fear and live by faith in him, you’ll discover his purposes.
God has called you to live for his purposes. And he knows you’re going to face distractions, defamation, and danger. But he’s with you. He has equipped you. And he will see you through all of them if you’ll trust him to turn you into what he wants you to become.
???!
What? females aren’t or can’t be achievers? only males? If this if this really so then I feel saddened/disappointed, I’d like to understand this as meaning mankind(all humans) but…It feel like (with how the article reads and that picture of a male)that this isn’t the case here… I’m feel quite confused and don’t know what to think if this truly is the case here, because I really respect Pastor Warren and all the amazing work he does/has done, but I personally think that the topics addressed in this article can be implied to all people and is relevant to ALL humans being regardless of gender; meaning females included please(they didn’t choose their gender, society just isn’t as supportive and perhaps even oppressive/discouraging of them achieving and succeeding, though that is changing in modern times, & I hope to see a gender balanced equitable society in the near future…)…
Though perhaps this article is just addressing and hoping to support males facing troubles and stress under the traditional(western) societal and cultural perception of males and their roles in society as “men” :/
I hope… :,(
btw: I don’t mean to attract any hate/hurt but as the other unfortunately less visible gender I believe we can be achievers as well! I hope you all are able to keep an open mind to this…:) Cheers!
We would like to clarify that the intention of this article is to address men, directly, about issues that men often struggle with in a way that is sometimes different than the way women struggle with it. We all certainly believe rather strongly that men and women have equal worth, value, and potential.
Interesting note about the distractions and the author is right. Men can get distracted and lose sight of what the Father in store. You’ve piqued my interest for an article for http://www.windowsofheavenministries.org, and I greatly appreciate your time and effort in writing this.
I definitely think there’s something God has placed in men to set and achieve goals. I wonder if there’s a balance to be had with focusing on being present in the moment instead of driven towards purpose.
I think I heard Os Guinness say once while speaking to a group of Africans they told him, “All you westerners have watches but none of you have time.”
It seems in America we deal with an addiction to busyness and have a hard time being still and quiet. Maybe men ought to sacrifice some achievement in favor of rest and relationships.
Thank you Pr Rick. I knew it, I have forgotten, you remembered me again.
Thank you Rick! Helpful, practical, wise words. You are such a blessing.