Through the lens of Man

The most underrated mark of a mature Christian man is a limp.

Jacob comes off the Jabbok and is no longer the smooth, fast-talking man he had been for sixty years. He has a visible weakness. He walks differently. Everyone who looks at him sees that something has happened. He has been undone. And he is blessed.

A man without a limp is usually a man who has been avoiding the wrestle. He looks fine. He has answers for everything. He has not been undone. He has not been touched. He has not had to surrender to anything. He is also, almost always, not very useful to the Father. Smooth men struggle to lead anything that requires brokenness — which is most things.

The men in your life that you trust most have limps. Marriages that almost ended. Sons who broke their hearts. Failures they had to walk through. Diagnoses they couldn’t beat. They came out the other side carrying something they did not have before, and they walk a little differently.

You can have the limp. Don’t be afraid of it.

One small thing today: name your limp. The thing the Father has touched in you and dislocated. Stop hiding it. The men around you will trust you more because of it, not less.