Alva Williams (excerpt from the book Man-U-Script)
Manhood cannot be classified according to race. Manhood is manhood regardless of racial identity, creed or religion. I was born a male, but I made the conscious decision to be a man according to God’s specific design. Yes! I believe manhood is a choice. Contrary to popular opinion, simply being born with a Y chromosome and all of the accompanying parts no more makes a man than being strapped with a fully equipped tool belt makes a construction worker. The physical anatomy is but the obvious distinction between male and female. It is not the defining mark of manhood. Manhood is what manly life decisions mature a male into. There’s even a clear distinction between a boy and a man. That too extends beyond the existence and development of the physical anatomy.
I am the compilation of my thoughts and the sum of my choices.
Manhood for me was a deliberate transition from boyhood. I didn’t just wake up one day to realize that I’d become a man. I made the conscious decision to be a man according to God’s design, and then God led the way. As He leads I continue to choose His way of living.
Do I choose to behave like everyone else out in the street, or do I choose to be different? Do I choose to stay in bed, or do I get out of bed so I can productively face life and handle my responsibilities? Do I choose to read nudie magazines, or do I choose to read something beneficial? Do I choose to eyeball that woman as she walks pass, or do I control my eyes and the thoughts that ensue? Do I choose to do right, or do I choose to do wrong? Deuteronomy 30:15 says “See, I [God] have set before you today life and good, death and evil…” The choice is mine.
Of course, I’ve made a boat load of bad choices throughout my life. In retrospect I see God’s intervention, and I see that He rescued me from what could have happened to me as a result of those decisions. I didn’t try to figure this life thing out on my own. I simply made the choice to live life the best way, which is God’s way. When I made that life-changing decision, God gave me the desire to live a right and fruitful life. He then opened doors to make things happen for me. The initial choice was for me to surrender and tell God that I was going to live life his way. I could not clean myself up or make myself perfect first. If I could, I wouldn’t need God. I simply made the right choice, and God commenced to working on me according to His promise in Psalm 138:8, “God will perfect that which concerns me.”
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