Man Up and Remain

The principled man isn't defined by what he says no to. He's defined by what he gets to keep.

Chris closes out his series on Proverbs chapter 2 with a promise instead of a warning: "For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it." After a whole week building the portrait of the principled man, Solomon lands the chapter on a single powerful word — remain. The principled man doesn't just avoid the wrong road; he inherits the right one.

Remain means to endure, to be left standing after everything else has been stripped away. It's the man whose marriage is still standing at the end of his life, still present with his grown kids, still trusted at work, still rooted in his faith when others have fallen off. And blameless doesn't mean perfect: it's the word used of Job, meaning whole, complete, undivided. His private life matched his public life. Here's the great irony: The shortcut man was chasing a full, flourishing life the whole time and never got it. The man who takes the long road ends up with the very thing the other man was after.

Verse of the Day: Proverbs 2:21

Your Daily Man-Up Challenge

Write down your answer to this question: What does it look like for me to remain — in my marriage, my family, my faith, and my integrity? Five years from now, if I stay on the road I'm building today, what does it mean to remain? Let that picture pull you forward.

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

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:01

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.

Chris Alessi 0:24

Alright, everybody, it's Friday. Welcome to day five of week seven of the men's morning devotional. My name is Chris Selesi, and today we're going to look at manning up and remaining. Man up and remain. We're looking at Proverbs 2.21, and we're just ending at where the principled man who takes the long road finally gets you. Here's your man up moment for today. The principled man doesn't just avoid the wrong road, he inherits the right one. Here's the scripture verse. For the upright will live in the land, Proverbs 221, and the blameless will remain in it. That's just incredible. After talking all week about principles, and we've been building this portrait of a principled man, what he pursues, and where he gets his wisdom from, and the roads he won't walk on, the shortcuts he won't take. And now Solomon lands this chapter with a promise. Not a warning, but a promise that the upright man will get to live in the land. The blameless will remain in it. That word remain is one I really want to sit in for a little bit. In the original language, it carries this sense of enduring, of being left standing, of being the thing that is still there after everything else has been stripped away. Not just survival, but permanence, lasting. It's the man whose marriage is still standing at the end of his life. It's he's still present in his children's lives. His children are grown and they still want dad around. He's still trusted at work when others have fallen off. He's still rooted in his faith when others have fallen off. The blameless man remains, and blameless does not mean perfect. It's a rich word, one of the most rich words used in the entire Old Testament. It doesn't mean perfect or sinless. It means whole, complete, and undivided. It was the same word used to describe Job after everything he went through. He was blameless, not because he never struggled. If you read that book, man, he's struggling, but he was wholly committed. His inside matched his outside. His private life matched his public life. His heart was undivided before God. That's the blameless man. And he gets to remain, he gets to inherit. You see, other men are taking the crooked paths. Their ways are devious, they're taking shortcuts. But verse 21 reminds us the principled man isn't defined primarily by what he says no to or what he refuses. He's defined by what he says yes to and what he receives. He receives the land. You will receive the land. You will remain. When others are falling off, if you are a principled man, if you man up, you will receive that life, the full rooted, flourishing life, the life that the shortcut man was chasing this whole time and never actually got. That's the great irony of the principled life, the life of someone who mans up. The man who takes the shortcut is trying to get there faster, but he never gets it. The one who walks on the straight road, who builds on wisdom and stays blameless and upright for the long haul, he ends up with more, not just more stuff, but more life, which is what that shortcut man was actually going after all along. The principled man gets to remain, to dwell. He's the man who's still standing. You'll be the man who's still standing when all the shortcuts have run out. So I want to close this week by bringing it all the way back to Monday, to day one. The if you then God will structure. All those conditions, all those decisions, if you accept, if you turn your ear, if you call out, if you search like a man hunting for treasure, all of them were pointing here to this, to a man who finds the knowledge of God, who walks in wisdom, who stays on the right road long enough to inherit something that lasts. That's the payoff. That's the promise. That's the principled man, the man who has manned up. So today, man up, take the long road, stay blameless, not perfect, but undivided and remain. Here's your man up challenge for the day. To close out this week, write down your answer to this question. What does it look like for me to remain in my marriage, my family, my faith, and my integrity? Five years from now, if I stay on the road I'm building today, what does it mean to remain? Let that picture pull you forward into your future. Now let's pray. Father, we thank you for this week. We thank you for the real truth that Solomon lays out for us in Proverbs chapter 2 that tells this whole story of the principled man. Holy Spirit, help us not to be perfect, but undivided, not to be flawless, but faithful. Keep us on the right road. Let us be standing in the land you promised when it matters most. In Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

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. Remember, every day is another opportunity to man up.