Men learn about managing weaknesses

By EMERLINE GORDON

The Men’s Ministry of the Plymouth New Testament Church of God hosted its first men’s conference, “Men and their Weaknesses” on April 28 at the church compound in Plymouth.

Men of all ages across Tobago came out in large numbers to support the event which was intended to bring transformation, illumination and offer education for them to better be able to deal with challenges in their daily lives, and to equip them with the tools to help them to become better fathers, husbands, sons and uncles and good role models.

President of the Men’s group of the church, Odell Joseph said the inspiration for the conference was born out of a desire to see men come together to socialise and interact in a friendly and productive manner.

Men have much to offer each other and the world, said Joseph, adding that as a man, he has observed that men seldom show their emotions when interacting with others. He expected the forum to allow participating men the freedom and knowledge to open up and express their weaknesses in ways to bring about healing as restore positive self-images.

“As a man myself, it really hurts when I hear about all the negative activities that some of our men have been involved in. “We hear about the absentee father in the home, the abuse been done to our women by some of our men, the drugs, murders, crimes…,” he said.

“These types of behaviors tell us one thing and that is, as men, we have failed to function in the jurisdiction that the creator has designed for us to function. We are supposed to be leader, provider, protector and teacher in our homes. But sad to say, we seldom see this happening today, and as a result, our women are compelled to step forward and fill in the vacant positions in society which should be occupied by us men.

“We want to put an end to this stigma. We want to see our men rise and be counted. We want to see men return to their role as king and priest in the home. We want to see men who will be strong, more responsible, militant and more dedicated. “With God’s help, we believe that we can make a difference through educating, encouraging and praying for each other. As men we all have our different weaknesses, but I believe if we are honest with ourselves and take responsibility for our actions then are we going to see changes happen in our personal lives.

“We look forward to receiving positive results as we work on empowering our men so that they will become better individuals, who themselves will be a catalyst to make that social change in our society. Better fathers in the home will mean better children, better sons and by extension a better society.”

Feature presenter at the event, 98.1 F.M. Radio co-host of the talk show, “Men Talk,” Pastor Noel “Professor” Richards from Trinidad, explored the theme of the event, “Men and their Weaknesses”. Quoting from the Bible in the book of John, he identified three key areas of men’s weaknesses as lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

He explained:

“The lust of the flesh: Some men find themselves looking at another woman (in the case of a married man), instead of their own wives. Nothing is wrong with looking at your wife and feeling certain passions towards her, but when it comes to looking at someone else’s wife with the desire to fulfill your physical pleasures with her, that in the eyes of God is wrong. It is a weakness.

“The lust of the eyes: Nothing is wrong with looking at someone else’s creativity. We all are attracted to beauty in one way or the other. But when we start to have a yearning or a strong desire to have something that rightfully belongs to someone else, this feeling of covetousness overtakes us, and we think that we must have it by any means necessary, that is a weakness. We also find ourselves looking at things that we are not supposed to look at and after a while we want to have it. Some of these are: Desiring others’ material possessions, status, appearance etc.

The pride of life: This is the temptation to attain excess greatness or power. One of the sins that God hates most is pride. Desiring to get credit for things that others have done or desiring for others to worship us or hold us in excessive esteem, in other words, we want to make a name for ourselves. There is also that tendency to feel that we are more important or better than others around us. That also is a weakness,” said Pastor Richards.

“Pride destroys. We men are too proud. We need to be more expressive with our emotions. Nothing is wrong with doing so. It is okay for us to cry if we must. It is okay for us to say I am sorry when we have offended someone. It is okay to say I need help. Expressing our emotions does not mean that we are weak, rather, it shows how strong we are.

Nothing is wrong with having certain desires and urges – as a matter of fact, this is what makes us human. But when these desires are misdirected and become out of control, this is when we find ourselves in problems. As men we can control our feelings and desires, but we must have that confidence in ourselves as well as rely on God to help us.”