God loves us all because He is love, and we’re living in the age of grace. Despite this, our external environment still has pervasive law-based teachings that lead men into toxic masculinity. Believing the “man law” the world pushes at us puts us back into bondage. Thankfully, God’s favor is greater and more powerful than anything else.

When God created mankind, man and woman were equal and both were created in His image; sin upset that balance. Believing what Jesus did to restore God’s original plan for men and women releases us from restrictive expectations so that we can be who God created us to be. What was true before may no longer be true; grace is now the truth. Knowing the truth as revealed by Jesus Christ sets us free.

However, the world is still stuck under the mindset of the old, expired Law of Moses and contradicts God’s Word concerning gender equality. Living by others’ definitions of male-female relationships causes us to sin and fall back under the patriarchal law that Jesus freed us from. However, grace is stronger than sin. The law entered so that offense would abound, but when sin abounded, grace abounded much more.

Intellectually knowing this and genuinely believing it are two different things. Acknowledging the freedom Christ brought us without internalizing it leaves us open to falling back into our old way of thinking. This sucks us into a trap. We’re instructed to stand fast in the liberty by which He has made us free, and not to be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Trying to be something we’re not can make us feel like a square peg in a round hole. This isn’t God’s will for us. Trusting in what Jesus did lets us be ourselves.

Prayer:

God, the Law of Moses locked both men and women into unequal, restrictive roles. It kept everyone from being their true selves. Thank You for sending Your Son to restore the equality You originally had in mind. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

1 John 4:16

Genesis 1:26, 27

John 8:32

Romans 5:20

Galatians 5:1, NKJV