A Godly Man from a Different Perspective

Text:  Luke 2:41-48 (NIV)

Main Idea:  A godly man is not one who lives a perfect life but one who processes an imperfect life in a godly way.

An “imperfect life” is not just our personal imperfections but also imperfect circumstances, when life doesn’t “cooperate” perfectly with us.

This episode of losing Jesus spelled one thing for Joseph: family emergency, which is an unexpected, unpleasant, and unwanted surprise.

It’s not hard for me to imagine that some time during one of those sleepless nights, Joseph felt like he had let the family down.  Men worry differently than women.  Men carry a different burden for the family.  Where women are concerned for the well-being of the whole family.  Men are concerned about the protection and security of the whole family.

 How do we process the threats to the security of our family?

• A godly man is not one who always has the answers.
• A godly man is not the one who does all the talking.
• He’s not always the one who takes charge.
• • That doesn’t mean he’s passive.  It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have answers, or that he doesn’t talk, or that he doesn’t take charge.  It means His trust is in the Lord, not in himself.
  • Among other things that means he’s comfortable in his own skin.  He’s not tryin’ to be the man – out of some need to prove that he’s the man – he is the man.  He is a man of God.  He is God’s man.
• A godly man is a God-filled and a God-fueled man. And as my Father’s Day Card said “He can change a life just by being part of it.”
• A godly man’s godliness is an overflow of his God-in-me-ness.

Where does this godliness come from?  How is it activated?  How does it come to the fore?  The more glorious our vision of Christ becomes, the more of His glory our lives will reflect. The more the love of Christ controls us, the more our lives will express the love and character of Christ towards others. A godly man is not a self-made man but a God-made man.

How does one process an imperfect life in a godly way?

• Processing things in a godly way means involving God in the process.  You cannot process things in a godly way without actually involving God in the process.

• The Lord doesn’t necessarily shout “the answer” from heaven. Or write it on the wall.  But He gives us peace, clarity, reassurance, comfort that He can work out whatever it is, no matter what we ultimately decide to do.

• Processing an imperfect life in a godly way begins not with something we do but with something we remember. Something we believe.  God is my helper not my judge. It means approaching Him in a manner consistent with that belief.

• It means remembering He cares more about how I am doing than more than how I am performing. Why?  Because man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

• Processing it with the Lord involves correctly viewing who God is to me and who I am to Him at all times. And when this becomes my focus and my practice, the other areas just seem to line up – not perfectly but oh so much better.

• Perfection is not the objective. The objective is faith in the process.  To not be shocked when the imperfections of life and self show up – as though they aren’t supposed to.

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

The most important moment for a godly man is now.  It’s the only one we have.