It used to be men were strong and women were gentle and that was just the way of it. But now women are strong and men are soft and if you watch any show on television, you’ll soon learn that men are wimpy. Spineless. Weak.
Except they’re not.
At all.
They are still strong and when we remember that, and treat them like we remember that, they’ll show us just how strong they really are.
And when we go one step further, and remember what strength really means, what being strong looks like, we’ll see a lot more strength in our men.
Strength isn’t arrogantly flashing a college degree or a tricked out Cadillac Escalade or fancy jewelry or fancy words while you forget to care for the people the Bible tells us to care for.
Strength isn’t flaunting sparkly clothes and surrounding yourself with shiny happy people while you ignore the undesirables of the world.
Strength isn’t joking about your inadequacy or making yourself a bumbling sitcom idiot.
Strength isn’t beating your chest and lording it over the females in your life that you are a man.
Strength isn’t raising your strong male hand to any creature weaker than you.
Strength is protecting your woman and your children with the muscles God gave you. The ones in your arms and the ones in your mind.
Strength is humbly pouring into a congregation of people for over forty years with the hope of bringing a community to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Strength is remembering where you came from and remembering where you are going and trying to bring along as many as you can, no matter where they happen to be now.
Strength is seeing something ugly but loving it anyway.
Strength is telling your wife to enjoy the sermon while you sit with the sick child, even though you rarely get to sit in on classes at church because you’re always so busy serving at church.
Strength is letting the tears of joy fall free when you are reunited with your church family after missing Easter service and you choke up but keep talking anyway as you bring them all before the Throne with your words.
Strength is using what God gave you, practicing your skills and becoming a self-taught professional who uses his fame to show the world what it means to love your Savior and your family above worldly wealth and riches.
Strength is teaching the boys of this nation how to be gentlemen, how to treat girls, how to shake hands, how to put others first, and how to open doors. How to be a man of strength just like you.
Strength is taking your arms and stretching them wide, wide enough to circle the earth, and letting people who hate you hammer iron spikes right on through. Strength is not wanting to do that part, but loving enough to do it anyway.
He was strong because God asked Him to be.
And God asks our men to do that too.
And if we let them, they’ll do it. They’ll show us their strength.
They’ll show us all the gentleness and tenderness and sacrifice and selflessness and love they keep stored under those big muscles in their arms and right underneath their broad backs and right there under their ribs where their heart pumps loud and steady for all those they love.
When we quit flexing our hate-them feminism muscles and start remembering the treasure we are…as strong women…as gentle women…as soft women…as cherished women…as His women…
…we’ll see it.
We’ll see their strength.
And then we’ll see them.
It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. 2 Samuel 22:33
Cassandra Rankin 
