A Man of Peace
Are you a man of peace or conflict? Today’s verse looks at the theme of integrity from a new angle: the difference between a man whose heart is whole and a man whose heart is divided. Our culture loves conflict and admires the man who confronts. Sometimes confronting what’s wrong is the most righteous thing a man can do. But Chris argues that we enjoy it a little too much, and that Scripture keeps calling men to bring peace. In Proverbs 12:20, Solomon sets the deceitful heart that devises evi...
Are you a man of peace or conflict?
Today’s verse looks at the theme of integrity from a new angle: the difference between a man whose heart is whole and a man whose heart is divided. Our culture loves conflict and admires the man who confronts. Sometimes confronting what’s wrong is the most righteous thing a man can do. But Chris argues that we enjoy it a little too much, and that Scripture keeps calling men to bring peace. In Proverbs 12:20, Solomon sets the deceitful heart that devises evil against the man who plans peace, and he promises that man something better than applause.
The man who promotes peace isn’t soft. He’s the strongest man in the room. Planning peace isn’t avoiding conflict or keeping your head down. It’s active. This man walks into a room asking how he can build a bridge, fix what’s broken, and bring people together. Sometimes that means a hard conversation. Either way, the goal is never “look what I did,” but “look at the peace we brought here.” Solomon says this man has joy, the deep satisfaction of living in line with who he really is. But you can’t plan peace if you don’t have it yourself. A man who performs in every room, whose inside doesn’t match his outside, has nothing to give. The man of peace doesn’t need to manipulate or strong-arm anyone. He is simply himself, and that is the fruit of a deeply rooted man.
Verse of the Day: Proverbs 12:20 (ESV)
Your Daily Man-Up Challenge
Ask yourself one hard question today: where in my life do I need to plan for peace? Identify one room, relationship, or situation that needs it. Before you walk in, decide how you’ll use your words to bring healing instead of adding to the tension.
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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 AlessiGood morning, men, and welcome to another day of the Men's Morning Devotional. My name is Chris Alesi, and I'm glad to be with you again today and for the rest of this week. Again, today's a really good opportunity to share this with somebody. I think our podcast yesterday was really intentional, really good. And so if you haven't heard that one, maybe you should pause this one and go listen to that one because we hit two verses and put them together about the mouth. It's a great one to send to some people, to some other men that want to see a better harvest in the relationships around them. Today, we're going to talk even more in that theme of integrity, but we're going to move to a different dimension of it, looking at Proverbs chapter 12, verse 20. We're going to talk about the difference between a man whose heart is genuine and a man whose heart is divided. So here's your man-up moment. The man who promotes peace isn't soft. He's the strongest man in the room. Look at Proverbs 12, 20. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy. We are so obsessed with conflict in this culture. We love the idea of being the man that can step up and address something and confront things. And look, there are moments where the most righteous thing you can do is confront what's wrong. But I definitely think we get an extra kick out of it a little bit too much. I think one of the most beautiful things in the world is how often Scripture encourages us as men to be men that bring peace. And I want to stop on the word that even talks about planning peace, because peace here isn't passive. It's not just the man who's avoiding conflict or keeps his head down to keep the peace. Planning peace is actually active. It's the man who walks into a room and thinks, how do I make this room more peaceful? How do I make it better? How do I build a bridge here? Or was it resolve what's broken? How do I bring people together? See, that type of man is engineering something constructive with his presence. And maybe that requires a confrontation. Maybe that requires conflict resolution. But the purpose isn't to say, look at what I did. The purpose is to say, look at the peace we've brought to this room. Solomon says that man has joy, not applause or recognition, something better. Soul-level internal satisfaction that comes from living in alignment with who you actually are. We've just brought joy. I can't plan peace if I don't have it in my own heart. And sometimes we don't have that peace because we're constantly having to perform in every room, and our insides don't match our outside. But if we can just get this thing right, if we can actually live out the first three days of this week so far, and really everything my dad and my brother-in-laws have been sharing through this podcast, if we can just get it right, we can become men that plan for peace and we can have joy. Here's a good integrity test for you today. Are you performing in the room you're in? Or are you the same man in every room because you have peace within yourself? See, the man who plans for peace is not a pushover. He's the most secure and strong man present. Because he's not worried about how he looks or what may come out. He's the same man on the inside as he is on the outside. He doesn't need to manipulate. He doesn't need to strong arm. He actually gets to be exactly who he is, with influence, with ability, with character. Because he's a man that plans for peace. It's not weakness. It's the fruit of a deeply rooted man. The kind of man who is manned up to this man-up challenge. Ask yourself this hard question today. Is there an area of your life where you need to plan for peace, where you need to bring peace into the room? Maybe you'll have to go back to yesterday and listen to how our words can bring healing. Maybe you need to plan for peace in a room you're walking into using your words so they can bring some healing. Let's pray. Father, we want to be men who have an undivided heart, men of integrity, men at peace, so we can bring peace and even plan for peace in every room we walk into. In Jesus' name, amen.
SPEAKER_00All 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.