I always wanted to be the father of a son—someone like you. No matter what you may have done or the trouble you have been into or the way you look or act, I would love being a father of a great young man like you.
One day I picked up a little boy named Carter who had been crying after he fell down. He looked at me after I hugged him and said, “You remind me of my dad.” It was a great feeling to know that for a few moments I felt like a father to a little boy.
If you were my son, there are some things I’d want you to have: a bike and a skateboard and, when the time came, a car. I would want you to own all the cool stuff that cool guys have, including a surfboard, because if you were my son, you would be living right next to the ocean. I would want you to have great teachers, fun guy friends, and nice girlfriends you could be really proud of. I would want you to have a lot of things I did not have when I was growing up, and I would work hard to provide them for you.
Of all the things I would want you to have, though, one stands above the rest. If you had it, your life would be easier to manage. It would also make your life count. That one thing is character. To me character means believing in what is good and right and being able to live according to what you believe. A young man with character is consistent in what he does in public and private. He is one of the rare people who is more interested in what he gives than what he takes. People are better after being with him rather than feeling hurt or angry. The young man with character knows why he is on this earth and is working toward fulfilling his God-given mission. He knows he is called to be God’s man and is doing whatever it takes to become God’s man. He has a sense of direction and purpose that will not be sidelined by some selfish temptation to do or be less than he can be.
If you were my son, I would do my best to teach you to be your best. I would also help you understand that you are not perfect, and that over the course of your life, you are going to mess up and make mistakes—just like some of the best in the Bible made mistakes. And I would want you to know how to pick yourself up, put yourself back in God’s hands, and proceed on down that road toward being God’s man. I would help you accept the great and not-so-great parts of yourself. And I would do my best to help you accept those parts in others also.
The young man with character knows why he is on this earth and is working toward fulfilling his God-given mission.
I regret that I won’t have the opportunity to provide for you as a son. But here’s something I have done: I’ve discussed many of the ideas in this book with Kenny Luck and encouraged him to produce this guide for your life—and what a great job he did! Kenny and I wish we could teach this book’s content to you personally, but since we can’t, we trust you will get fired up reading it on your own. Within these pages are the most important lessons a man can learn. They will steer you away from much grief, guilt, and pain in your relationships with God and people. They will guide you toward your true purpose on earth, and toward a life filled with love and many other good things.
So please read Every Young Man, God’s Man slowly. And as you do, ask yourself how you can personally apply the principles taught here. Figure out ways you can make a few changes now that will impact your life forever.
Later, after you’ve finished reading the book, Kenny and I would love to hear from you. Tell us about your struggles and whether or not this book has helped. You can reach us at kennyl@everymanministries.com and sarterburn@newlife.com
I am confident that you will profit a great deal from what you read here. In fact I believe that Every Young Man, God’s Man is going to help you become the man you truly want to be—the man your Creator wants you to be: God’s man.