The Resolution for Men

The Resolution for Men by Stephen Kendrick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book that is a resource from the movie, "Courageous." If you have not seen the movie I would highly recommend it! The book goes through each part of the "Resolution." The "Resolution" was written for man to take a stand to be man of God. The "Resolution" covers a man in relationship to his wife, children, authority, church, others. It speaks about honor, love, forgiveness, reconciliation, kindness, respect, and compassion. This book is a must read for all men. I plan to put several quotes about this book in my blog when time permits. You can find my blog here, http://timchavel.blogspot.com/.


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Below are some great quotes from this book:

God's calling for you as a husband was not to marry the woman you love, but to love the woman you married.  p. 91

Be aware that when you are fearful, frustrated, or fatigued, you are most vulnerable. Avoid tempting situations rather than trying to resist temptation.  p. 97

Don't follow your heart, lead it. The more you pray for your wife, focus on her positive attributes, and invest in your marriage, the more your heart will turn toward her.   p. 97

Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless. p. 138

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proven, and to be steady on all the battle fronts besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.  p. 139

Fearless of all consequences, you must do the right thing. You will need the courage of a lion unhesitatingly to pursue a course which shall turn your best friend into your fiercest foe; but for the love of Jesus you must thus be courageous. For the truth's sake, to hazard reputation and affection is such a deed that to do it constantly you will need a degree of moral principle which only the Spirit of God can work in you; yet turn not your back like a coward, but play the man. Follow right manfully in your Mater's steps, for He has traversed this rough way before you.  pp. 142-143

The question for believers is never, "Will God provide?" but "How is He going to do it?"  God provides in His own way and in His own timing, but He is always faithful to His role as Provider. If you need transportation to get to work, God may provide a car to you free of charge as a gift from someone. Or He may provide the money to buy the car. Or a way to earn the money to buy the car. Or send you a bicycle. Or change your job so you can walk or even work from home. But you can rest assured that He is on it and in the end will deliver what you need so you can get food on the table. And in the meantime, you need to walk by faith and stay busy asking, seeking, and knocking until He reveals what He has provided. But He will; you can rest on it.  p. 161

If you want to see a happy person, look at someone who has just been forgiven! They have a refreshing humility and joy that's hard to deny. Regret doesn't have the power to haunt them anymore. They sinned or failed others, but they've been forgiven and set free. It's a beautiful thing!  But there's another joy worth pursuing - the liberation you feel after forgiving someone who has deeply hurt you. When wounded people finally forgive, the dark clouds part in their emotions, and a breath of fresh air and sunshine rushes into their hearts.  p. 169

It has been wisely said: "Bitterness does more damage in the life where it is stored than the one on whom it is poured."  p. 174

But if you confess only so you can feel better and look better - if you are angry about the consequences - if you don't think you'd have done anything differently if you could go back and do it over, and if you make no changes to keep from doing it again in the future, then your repentance is not real.  Regret and tears don't mean repentance; change does.  p. 190

If you are a man of integrity, then you will speak the truth all the time, whether generally in broad terms or specifically when reporting facts. Whether much is at stake or nothing is at stake, you will be the same in public as you are in private.  p. 191

That word sincere, by the way, means "without wax." Ancient sculptors and pottery makers would hide imperfections in their work by pouring wax into the cracks of their fractured merchandise, then painting over the blemishes. After it was sold and used around heat, the wax would melt out, proving the piece to be faculty. But those craftsmen who made reputable products with no fractures would stamp SINCERE on the bottom to show that their work was "without wax" and was the real thing. It was solid. True. It had integrity.   p. 194

God never intended for you to live out the journey of your spiritual life alone. When you get connected to Christ, you also became spiritually connected to everyone else who is in Christ. "We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another" (Romans 12:5). We are permanently joined together and deeply need each other.  p. 200

I DO solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.

I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.

I WILL be faithful to my wife, to love  and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.

I WILL bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.

I WILL train them to honor authority and live responsibly.

I WILL confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy.

I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion.

I WILL work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.

I WILL forgive those who have wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.

I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.

I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.

I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:25   (from the movie Courageous) p. 223

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