To Protect and Serve.

This is the motto for the Los Angeles Police Department and probably the biggest joke to many of L.A’s ethnic minority after the Rodney King beatings. But yes, to protect and serve. The calling of every proud police officer around the world. It is also the calling of every Man around the world.

Yes, so if you are male of the species, you were born to protect and serve. What does it mean to protect and serve? Lets explore the generalities of this as I’ve come to learn.

To Protect

One of the key responsibilities of any man, a God given responsibility, is to be a protector. Men are called to protect that which is precious to God and this includes a number of things, a few of which are:

1. God and His Kingdom - Yes. You may wonder how we are supposed to protect the all powerful, all knowing God of creation? We do so by protecting His name, His principles, His Word(bible, gospel and its teaching) His church and it’s members from the eternal onslaught of the devil who seeks to lay waste to all the God has established.
2. Women and children — Our wives and children are to be protected above all others. This goes without saying. They have been put under our care and we are totally responsible for them. Nonetheless, even single men have a responsibility to protect the women around them, whether they be mothers, sisters, friends, co-workers, nieces and nephews. Men are leaders and leaders protect those around them.
3. The Natural World — Men are called to protect the wonders of Gods creation. The world around us is being needlessly ravaged and destroyed because some men have forgetten that God gave us a perfect world and we are meant to protect it for Him. That is wrong. The beauty of nature serves us with resources and nourishment and therefore must be protected at all costs.
4. The weak and oppressed — Everywhere you turn, you will see someone being abused or oppressed. Men protect such people. Men protect the poor, the sick, the physically weak, the abused, the exploited, the hungry, the lost. Men protect those who can’t protect themselves. Period.
5. Our Society, history and morality — Men protect the society we live in. Thats probably why most political, military and police are male. Its what men were born to do. Men are to keep out moral decay and chaos. Keep order and peace in. Men are keepers of history and public record. Men are responsible for passing it on to the next generation.

To Serve

While most men are inherently aware that they are Protectors, not many realise that they are also meant to be Servants. Men are meant to spend their lives in the service of a cause bigger than them, one which will outlast them. So how do men serve?

1. Men are servants of God — Our first point of service is to God. Men are used by God to do the heavy lifting for His purposes. From Noah, to Moses to David to Christ Himself, God always calls upon men to lay down their lives in pursuit of something so much bigger than their individual lives that blesses humanity as a whole. So no, serving in church is not a womans thing contrary to popular belief.
2. Men are servants in their homes — serving their wives and children helping them reach their highest potential. And yes, doing the dishes and taking out the trash too. It is imperative to have husbands and fathers who stay the course and raise their children because it has an unprecedented ripple effect on the quality of society we live in. Nothing could be nobler than a man who faithfully serves his children by teaching them, blessing them, listening to them and loving them.
   
3. Men are called to serve their communities — through some form of work that it necessary for the benefit of the whole. Thats why many men feel so frustrated when they have no work. It’s that nature of service through work and the recognition for that service that gnaws at them when they lack work that causes them to lash out. Men were made to work, to tend, to nurture and it’s by this that we serve.

So gentlemen, this is just a brief overview of what it means for us to protect and serve. In your own life, some areas may stand out more or translate differently. However, will you stand up and be a real man? Will you protect and serve your God, your country, your women and children?

Shalom

From greater men than I:

“You seek the heights of manhood when you seek the depths of God. Edwin Louis Cole”

“We need the iron qualities that go with true manhood. We need the positive virtues of resolution, of courage, of indomitable will, of power to do without shrinking the rough work that must always be done. Theodore Roosevelt”

“No man has ever risen to the real stature of spiritual manhood until he has found that it is finer to serve somebody else than it is to serve himself. Woodrow Wilson”

“It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more “manhood” to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind. Alex Karras”

Today in my mail, I discovered a pleasant bonus in one of my weekly inspirational newsletters. The 13 absolutely unbreakable laws of success by Brian Tracy, one of my favorite motivational speakers. Here it is in simple and no nonsense breakdown of things you must learn to do to achieve great and lasting success in your life. I give you, the 13 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Success.

1. The Law of Control:

You feel good about yourself to the degree at which you feel you are in control of your own life.

2. The Law of Responsibility:

You are completely responsible for everything you are and for everything you become and achieve.

3. The Law of Direction:

Successful people have a clear sense of purpose and direction in every area of their lives.

4. The Law of Compensation:

You are always fully compensated for whatever you do, positive or negative.

5. The Law of Service:

Your rewards in life will always be in direct proportion to the value of your service to others.

6. The Law of Applied Effort:

All things are amenable to hard work.

7. The Law of Overcompensation:

If you always do more than you are paid for, you will always be paid more than you are getting now.

8. The Law of Preparation:

Effective performance is preceded by painstaking preparation.

9. The Law of Forced Efficiency:

The more things you have to do in a limited period of time, the more you will be forced to work on your most important tasks.

10. The Law of Decision:

Every great leap forward in life is preceded by a clear decision and a commitment to action.

11. The Law of Creativity:

Every advance in human life begins with an idea in the mind of a single person.

12. The Law of Flexibility:

Success is best achieved when you are clear about the goal but flexible about the process of getting there.

13. The Law of Persistence:

Your ability to persist in the face of setbacks and disappointments is your measure of your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed.

Shalom