Boys will be boys! How often have you heard that? It’s usually said to speak of something typical of generalizations regarding boys, even men, sometimes. Think of mud pies, wrestling matches, new toys that go fast or break stuff!
Any time this phrase gets thrown out it’s a lighthearted way to excuse a behavior that is potentially destructive, probably disgusting, or possibly indecent. It is usually not used to refer to anything heinous or maleficent, and certainly not illegal, just less than ideal.
I cannot help but wonder, however, if we use this logic in other ways. Things like driving dangerously, being late, dressing sloppy, always negative, or eating like crap are typically just symptoms of a deeper issue of self-control. It’s easy to point at others here or dismiss these as just “the way I am.”
I’m not making light of making change in these types of issues; I know it’s hard. But they tend to be a matter of just reordering life, priorities, needing a little accountability, making conscious diligent and consistent effort.
What about when it comes to making light of our soul defects: things like our self-fullness, moral failure, and tendency to live in darkness. When it comes to matters of lifestyle and amoral issues, it is typically a problem of discipline. But when it is about something beyond just the surface, something spiritual, it takes our part but we can’t do it alone. We need the Holy Spirit.
So, today, I simply ask: To what do you write off as permanent saying something like this, “It’s just the way I am.”? In what area have you settled by simply declaring, “It’s just my personality.”? How often have you excused a behavior you’d like to…need to change by committing to this mantra: “I’m just ‘that’ type of person.”?
What if that is a bold-faced lie, a cop out, a lazy way around, or just the path of least resistance?
Our spirit cannot will its way to wholeness. It requires divine intervention. Jesus makes the difference. Jesus speaks to this when he says the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matt 26).
Consider this idea woven throughout the New Testament. Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ they are a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come” (Corinthians 5:17). This means that real change, genuine transformation, is available when we choose to allow Jesus to come into our lives.
He writes in Romans 6 about living differently when living life in Jesus’ jeans and that the old way of doing things is no longer going to work and in Romans 12 that transformation is a complete mindset shift. He also shares in Ephesians 4 some real practical ways of doing things differently. (Read v17-32.)
There is no room to excuse attitudes and behaviors that no longer restore wholeness as “it’s just the way I am.” We read in Galatians that since we’ve chosen a different path, it’s no longer the same way of doing things, but we do them differently, like Jesus, and more importantly, THROUGH Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Okay, so what needs to change? What’s been excused for any number of reasons? What’s no longer good enough to write off as “boys will be boys” in yourself?
#BoysWillBeBoys
#DifferentNow
#BugsBoogersBoys
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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