A while ago I wrote an article titled Nice Guys Finish Last. Even though I didn’t say it specifically, people got the idea that I was saying you should be a macho tough guy and nice guys are all losers. Well, nice guys are losers, when all they are is nice guys who don’t have any backbone and don’t stand up for the truth. But… that doesn’t mean that you automatically have to run to be a macho Tarzan. Virtue is always somewhere in the middle.
Meekness and gentleness are not virtues we are typically drawn to as men since they tend to make us think of things like lambs and doves. We would rather be like lions and falcons. But I think that gentleness is all the more necessary for men to practice precisely because it is so overlooked. How many husbands and fathers get angry and yell at their spouse and children? Is that a sin nine times out of ten? Absolutely. Many times those outbursts of anger show a lack of meekness and gentleness. Why do we lash out precisely at the women and children, the ones we as men are most called upon to protect? The devil worms his way into our ear and when we are feeling insecure or called out for our own weakness he convinces us that we need to “make up” for it by pouring on the anger and rage. This is certainly not the answer.
I will admit that I have a difficult time desiring to practice meekness and gentleness, but I look to Christ as the example of the man I want to be and He certainly practiced both of these. And he was anything but weak. Christ was strong enough to drive all the money changers out of the temple, or to call the Pharisees out in front of everyone. Yet he is also gentle enough that the children ran to him without fear. We need to remember that our strength as men is not meant to push others away or to hurt them. It is there primarily to protect those we love and to provide a safe haven for them from the storms of the world.