Bring It Home

Where's the hardest place for you to man up? For most men, it's not the office—it's inside their own home, with their wife, their kids, the people who know the real them. In this episode, Chris Alessi brings the man-up challenge home. 

Drawing from Psalm 101:2, where David sets his own standard of conduct—not just as a king, but as a dad and a husband. Chris talks about walking with integrity of heart within your house. Work and hobbies are rubber balls; drop them, and they bounce back. But family? Those are glass balls—drop one, and it tends to break. Your family doesn't need you to be flawless, but they do need you to be there.

Verse of the Day

Psalm 101:2 (NIV) — "I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh, when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house."

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! 

Get The Metro Life Studios app 

Transcript

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. Well, all right, everybody. We're at the midpoint of the week. Welcome to Wednesday and we're. And welcome back to the Men's Morning Devotional. I am Chris Alessi. We're halfway through the week, and today we're going home, literally. We've talked about manning up in the morning and at work, but today we're going to talk about manning up at home. Here's the reality. I want to be honest with you. For a lot of men, the hardest place to man up is inside their own home with your wife or with your kids or your parents or your siblings. It's the place where everyone knows the real you. So here's your Wednesday man up moment. The most important room you'll ever lead in is the one your family is already in. Psalm 101, verse 2 says this. I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh, when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house. Psalm 101 is David's personal integrity Psalm. He's laying out his own standard of conduct, how he will live, what he will allow and what he will refuse. And right at the center of it is this verse. He says that he will bring and walk in integrity in his home, not just as a king, but as a dad, as a husband. I've heard it said this way. There are things in life that are glass balls and others that are rubber balls. You see, work, our hobbies, all of that as important as they are. And we just said yesterday, you're supposed to do those things as unto the Lord. Those are rubber balls. If we drop them all right, they'll bounce back. I'll have an opportunity tomorrow to get it right. But it's not the same with home. You see, our relationship with our family, those are glass balls. If we drop one of those, they tend to break. You see, I'm a father of two young boys, and in the season of my life, so much of the demands of my time is just. It's constant. It's no matter what, there's always something I should be doing. But what I'm learning is that being fully present with my boys is the most irreplaceable thing I can give. And it's not only for them, but it's for me too, because I don't like the feeling of looking back, thinking, wow, where did the time go? I want to be present for that time. Not necessarily perfect, but I definitely want to be present. My kids do not need me to be flawless. My wife sure as heck does not need me to be flawless. But they all need me to be there, to be engaged. My sons need to see me operate as a Christian. They need to see me operate as a good husband. They need to see those things. They need to see that God's real in my heart and in my life at home, not just on Sundays. So I've heard it said this way that we have to really win the driveway. We have to win that moment where we're about to get out of our car after a long day of work and we're about to go inside. Because we don't have many days to really enjoy our family. Whether you are single, living at home, those days are numbered. You will not be living at home for very long. Or maybe you are a parent of young kids like me. You will not be a parent of young kids for a long time. Maybe you're a grandparent. Well, you will not get these days for much longer. Kids just keep growing, life just keeps going. Which is why we should conduct the affairs of our home with integrity. And in this case, I think integrity means being fully there, really enjoying it. And so here is the man up challenge. And this is kind of personal to me. I really like this one. When you get home, put your phone in another room for the first 30 minutes. Watch how that 30 minutes may grow to 60 to a few hours. We challenge you to be fully present with your family, whoever's there, and maybe even start some conversation by asking a good question and actually listening to the answer. Don't rush to the tv, be present. Show up all the way. That's our man up challenge for you today. Now let's pray. Father, I pray that you'd make us the man our family needs at home. Not perfect, but present. I pray you'd help us walk in integrity at home and let the people that know us the best see you the most clearly within us. In Jesus name, amen. 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.