Strong Means You Go Low

We all have a picture in our head of a strong man. Maybe it is the guy at the gym who moves heavy weight. Maybe it is the man who never cries, never needs anybody, never loses.

I used to think like that too. Basically I thought strength meant I could handle everything alone.

So let me be honest with you. Physical strength has some value. But it fades. Ask any man over 50 and he will tell you the body slows down. What matters more is resilience. Can you take a hit and keep going? Can you stay faithful when it costs you something?

That is closer to what God calls strength. But Jesus goes further than that.

Let’s take a look at Matthew 20. Jesus is walking with His disciples and He tells them plainly what is about to happen. He will be handed over, mocked, beaten, and crucified. Then He will rise on the third day. He is not surprised. He is not defeated. He is laying down His life on purpose, as a ransom for many.

Then, right after that, the mother of James and John comes and asks if her sons can sit at His right and left in His kingdom. She wants position for them. She wants power.

Notice what Jesus does. He does not shame her for wanting greatness. He redefines what greatness is. He says the greatest among you will be your servant. The first will be your slave. Even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.

That is a completely different definition of strong.

So what does a strong man actually look like? Let me give you four things from this passage.

First, a strong man has his life in order with Jesus first.

This is bigger than a priority list. Jesus is not one item on the page. He is the page everything else is written on.

God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Before sin ever entered, before Adam and Eve were tired, God told them to rest. Why? To orient their lives toward Him. Rest is a gift, not a reward.

Here is what I see so often. If the devil cannot make you bad, he will make you busy. Busy men make poor decisions. Busy men get exhausted. And an exhausted man is an easy target. Some families are hanging by a thread right now because the man is busy with the wrong things.

So order your life. Your money, your gifts, and especially your time. If Jesus is first in your time, everything else finds its place.

Second, a strong man can carry pain for other people.

Jesus drank the cup of judgment so that we could drink the cup of grace. He took the punishment that was ours. Not His. Ours.

That is what strength looks like. Taking responsibility for things that are not even your fault.

If you are married, you know what I am talking about. You can be right or you can be married. Sometimes strong means you drop your need to win the argument and you choose her. You choose your kids. You love your wife like Jesus loved the church and gave Himself up for her. That is Ephesians 5.

Proverbs 24:17 says a righteous man falls down seven times and gets up every time. Getting up is strength. Not never falling.

Third, a strong man is humble.

Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. Yet He says, this is not mine to grant, it is for my Father. The One with everything still submits to the Father.

So here is the principle. God will not trust you with authority until you learn to live under authority. A rebellious spirit will not be blessed. I truly believe that.

And humility shows up in small ways. Do nothing out of selfish ambition. Consider others better than yourself. That includes the difficult people around you. The coworker who annoys you, the neighbor who ignores you. Treat them with respect anyway.

John the Baptist said it so well. I must decrease and He must increase. A strong man does not need to promote himself. He makes much of Jesus.

Fourth, a strong man serves.

Think about John 13. Jesus wraps a towel around His waist and washes the disciples’ feet. In that time people walked on dirty roads in sandals. Foot washing was the lowest, filthiest job in the house. And the Son of God did it.

Then He says, I have set you an example. You will be blessed if you do the same.

So what does that mean for us? It means you take the worst jobs at home. The trash, the dishes, the mess. You do it without being asked and without keeping score. Love with action, not with words only.

Now here is the hard part for me. Motivation matters. Jesus served out of love. Not obligation. Not to win an argument. Not to get something back. Pure love.

Let me stress something. This is not about trying harder to earn God’s love. You already have that in Jesus. This is about living like the man you already are. Grace comes first. Then the challenge.

One more thing and I want you to sit with this.

One day you will be gone and people will gather and talk about you. What do you want them to say? That you were good at your job? That you got your way and people feared you?

Or that your life was rightly ordered. That you laid your life down for others. That you did not make much of yourself and simply served. That you loved Jesus and it showed.

I want them to say he loved Jesus and he loved his people well.

So this week, do the one thing below. Start small and start now. Trust Him with it.