1. Strengthen Your Own Walk With God.
As a man, you will only have real eternal influence in the world if your own walk with God is healthy and growing stronger. Grow in spending time with God in prayer and in meditating and studying His Word. Be shaped more by God than you are by the world.
2. Build A Strong Marriage.
Marriage was always designed by God to be a picture of the love Jesus has for His Bride—the Church. When we pursue a stronger marriage with our wife, we are doing so much more than just building a strong marriage—we are being witnesses to the grace of God who makes us one with Himself. Strong marriages model for our neighbours what love, grace, forgiveness, passion, and joy were always meant to look like—and they point people to the God who had this whole idea in the first place.
3. Be A Great Dad.
Fatherless children are increasing in our country. When a child comes from a fatherless home, they are more likely to face a very difficult life including poverty, homelessness, and temptations towards suicide. By being a great dad, you will help create a healthier and stronger future for Canada.
4. Train Your Children To Be Influencers.
Every day our children are influenced by the education system in our country. Jesus sent us into the world to be salt and light. Imagine if we trained our children to love Jesus and be ambassadors for Jesus—right where they are. Teach them to ask difficult questions that show the places where their education has obvious holes in it. Teach them to represent the heart of God and the truth of God; support them to be influencers in the world.
5. Seek The Benefit Of Your Neighbourhood.
What can you do to be a benefit and blessing in your neighbourhood? Can you throw a neighbourhood BBQ party this summer? Can you help a family in need? Influence happens through relationships, and too many of us don’t even know our neighbors—so how else are we going to influence them and point them to Jesus?
6. Be Generous.
The world has many priorities on how to spend time and money. As Christians, we are called to a life of generosity in response to the generosity God has shown us. Do not just give the bare minimum—be generous. Support causes that are both Christian and causes that will benefit the whole of society beyond the Christian community. When you eat out—Christians are often known as the worst tippers. Change that reputation and bless the waitress or waiter who served you.
7. Work With Other Believers.
The Bible teaches that we are the Body of Christ—it teaches that we all need each other. Make sure you are a regular participant in the life of a local church. Many of us are not very good at reaching beyond our own doctrinal or ethnic huddles. Jesus said that the world would know we are His disciples by our love for one another. Would the non-believer in your community see the love that exists in your own church or between the churches in your community?
8. Reconnect Faith And Work.
Work and faith are often seen as two different spaces. We need men who cross that divide – who allow Jesus to shape how they work, why they work, and where they work. Your mission field is not on a short term trip to a third world country—your mission field is where you are at any given moment of the day. We need Christians working as politicians, lawyers, teachers, doctors, journalists, construction contractors, musicians—and every other area of society where there is employment.
9. Be Excellent.
There are too many moments where Christians will use language like “I’m being a good steward”—and many times it is just code for “I’m too cheap” or “I don’t want to do more work than this.” We serve a God who is worthy of our very best—every time—all the time. Imagine if Christians were known as the best business leaders, the best lawyers, the best workers, or the best mechanics in town.
10. Be Prepared To Suffer … But Keep Loving Anyways.
When you are living out your faith, you will be marginalized and maybe even threatened by people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Our brothers and sisters in the New Testament considered it a blessing to suffer—because it helped them identify even more with the One who suffered for them. When you do suffer, the Bible teaches us to keep loving anyways. It’s what will help people see that Jesus truly is different—that Jesus really is the way, truth, and the life.
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