No More Excuses

Are you making excuses, or are you making progress? From the Garden of Eden to today, men have had a habit of deflecting blame instead of owning their role. But real manhood isn't about pointing fingers; it's about standing firm and taking responsibility.

In today's devotional, we look at Paul's charge to the men of Corinth and challenge you to stop hiding from the areas of your life you've been avoiding and start leading with ownership.

Verse of the day: "Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong." 1 Corinthians 16:1

NEW TO THE MEN’S MORNING DEVOTIONAL? 

Welcome!

The Men's Morning Devotional is a podcast to help you man up in every way - in your faith, your family and your work - by spending a few minutes getting into the Word before you face the world. 

Every weekday, you'll get a challenge and encouragement from Scripture that speaks to the pressures you carry as a husband, a father, and a leader. You’ll get truth you can take straight into your day. And you’ll know you’re not standing alone, because men everywhere are waking up to fight the same battle.

Your hosts are Steve Alessi, pastor of Metro Life Church of Miami, FL, along with his sons and other leaders of our Goodfellas men's ministry.

Join us every weekday to man up! 

MORE PODCASTS YOU'LL ENJOY

Find more podcasts about faith and family from Metro Life Studios, including:

My Morning Devotional

The Family Business with The Alessis

The Mary and Martha Show 

You can listen to all of these shows on our Metro Life Studios app here! 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Gentlemen, every day is a battle. A battle for your faith, your family, and your purpose. The men who stand strong don't prepare when the battle arrives. They prepare before it begins. Welcome to the men's morning devotional. Let's get into God's word. It's time to man up.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Welcome back to the men's morning devotional. I'm Steve Alesi, and I'm so glad you're back for this Tuesday edition of our man up, Men's Morning Devotional. Now, yesterday, our man up moment was about knowing who you are so you can lead yourself first. Today, we're going to hit it from another angle because we're going to talk about in this man up moment a man who knows who his identity is, but refuses to take responsibility for that is a man that is still a boy. So today's man up moment is this the moment a man stops making excuses is the moment he starts making progress. Let's get into that. 1 Corinthians 16, 13 says, be on your guard. This must have been written for men. It says, Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. The first man in the Bible had a responsibility problem. When God confronted Adam in the garden about eating the fruit, what did he say? He said, The woman you gave me, she gave it to me. Right off the bat, when he was confronted by God, Adam blamed Eve. He even suddenly blamed God. And that pattern, deflecting responsibility, passing the buck, finding someone else to point at has been a male struggle ever since. But real manhood looks differently. Real manhood says the responsibility is mine to own. My family, my finances, my faith, my failure, my fitness. I'm not going to hide from them. No, I'm going to face them head on. Paul's first charge in Corinthians is one of the most direct commands to men in all of Scripture. He says, Be on your guard. Stand firm. Be courageous. Be strong. Catch that. Four imperatives. Four action steps. Now, none of them say, wait for someone else to handle it for you. All of them say you move first. One of the biggest things men are dealing with right now, and the research backs this up, is a crisis of direction and purpose. Many men feel stuck, they feel disengaged, like they're just going through the motions. And often at the root of that is a refusal to take ownership of their life. Because ownership is hard. It means when something goes wrong, you can't look everywhere else. But here's the gift of responsibility. When you own your life, you also own your ability to change it. And that's good news. The man who blames can't improve. But the man who owns, he can lead. So here's today's man up challenge. Are you ready? Here it is. Identify one area of your life you've been avoiding, taking responsibility for. Name it out loud. Write it down. Take ownership of it. Then take one concrete step today to address it. Let's pray. God, forgive me for the times I've shifted blame instead of owning my role in responsibility. Today I ask that you would give me and our men the courage to stand up, step in, and be the man of responsibility that you've called us to be. In Jesus' name, amen.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

All right, gentlemen, you've heard God's word. Now go live it. Lead well, stand strong, honor God in everything you do. Share this devotional with another brother, and we'll see you tomorrow morning. Remember, every day is another opportunity to man up.