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The Backpack of Manhood for Young Men by Mike Ramey

by Mike Ramey
01/22/25
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     Interestingly enough, somewhere in the conscience of our modern society, it has been held that it is ‘alright’ for men to be men again.  However—in my point of view—when young men are shown the ways of noble manhood, who is doing the defining?  In our modern era, a combination of social media dictation, feminist confrontation and sodomite alienation through the attempts of the ‘transgender’ sympathizers in education, media, sports and entertainment have made vain attempts to ‘define’ manhood without God. 

     This makes about as much sense as trying to remove the ‘wet’ from water. 

     True manhood, or I should say, biblical manhood is the only road a young man should endeavor to travel.  I realize that we are living in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ and that the world system is anxiously conspiring to toss common sense over the side and use their own logic to define concepts that God alone has created and defined.  One such definition area is that of manhood.

     I will be coming at this subject from a spiritual point of view.  I’ve been blessed on writing on men’s issues for a number of years—since the 90s as a matter of fact.  I have always written on manhood from a biblical, business, and common-sense perspective.  Why change a winning formula at this stage of the track, with a new generation of men appearing on the horizon in their starting blocks?  I’m not ashamed to represent Jesus Christ, and neither should be ANY young—or old—man!

     Young man, do NOT let others define your being.  If you were born a male, then you are of the male sex, no matter what can be done ‘socially’ to attempt to change the unchangeable. Becoming a man is a growing process through pre-teen, teen, and young adult years.  IF others define who you are, once you get to your destination, you will be amazed at the shadow that THEY have cast upon you to cause you to forget how noble and powerful you truly are.  There is NOTHING worse than a young man at 18 having to ‘go back’ and learn skills that he SHOULD have started to master at the age of 13.  Further, it is a shame for a man of 25 to have no ambition to better himself, nor any motivation to achieve and succeed in society.

     Let me make this personal at this point.  I had a young man—a family member—who lived under my roof.  There were some other young men whom he ‘hung out’ with at High School. Well, report cards came out and all of the young men were grounded—including our family member. It turned out that the NEXT report card period, eight out of the twelve got better grades and got off of being grounded, including my family member.  The remaining four didn’t give a hoot about their grades—but they were making good grades at being thugs.

     To this day, my family member—who had a ton of potential—is still imitating ‘thug life’.

     It’s all about choices, my young brother.  There are those who will give you good advice—including those of your own household.  However, if you choose NOT to listen, you will reap the consequences of your decisions.  Further, the reaping may last for years.

     There are those who will be MORE than content to have you make the wrong choices so that they can turn a tidy profit (through their various cottage industries) on your misfortunes.  Yes, misery loves company…but misery loves company even more if some money can be made OFF of your misery.  You will be amazed at how many gang members who are jailed in connection with criminal activity were motivated by people who didn’t give a hoot about them to engage in criminal acts.  The new ‘thug life’ member is shocked—when he’s behind bars—that his old running buddies never come to see him, nor provide for him or his family while he is doing time…even though they ‘swore’ that they would be ‘there for them’ to the end.

     On God’s side of the street, He wants you to be all that you can for HIS use and HIS glory.  God cannot be erased by a proclamation of a sinful society.  God cannot be legislated out of existence.  Jesus Christ cannot be relegated to a few times a year.  The Holy Spirit cannot be ignored.  The KJV Bible—the Word of God—cannot be altered or changed to fit the whims of a decadent society.

     In wrapping up this column that you can place in your ‘manhood backpack’ I want to remind the young brothers in the house that success starts at YOUR house.  Meaning, the authority figures in your home—your mother and father—are the ones whom you should listen to early and often.  Not only have they been where you’ve yet to go in life, they have been assigned by God to guide you into manhood.

     The fifth commandment is no joke: “Honor thy father and thy mother”.  It is the first commandment with promise—meaning that God has attached a land mine to this commandment IF a young man (or young woman) does not respect, reverence, nor heed the life lessons that their parent(s) are teaching them.  If you want God’s blessing on your success as a man, you have to play the game of life His way—honor your parents.  Contrary to popular belief, many homes STILL have two parents.  If yours does not, listen to and heed your single parent, your guardian, your granny or whomever is the authority figure in your particular home.

     Don’t tell me how successful you want to be, if you can’t follow the rules at home.

     More to come in this series.

     Suggested reading for this particular column: “Meditations on Manhood” by Charles Spurgeon.

     Mike Ramey is a Retired Minister, KJV Bible Teacher, syndicated columnist and Bible Prophecy Specialist who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.  “The Backpack of Manhood for Young Men” is one of a variety of his columns appearing and abounding in print and cyberspace, written from a biblical, business, and common-sense perspective since 1996.  To drop him a line—or a whine—the address is still the same: [email protected].  ©2025 Barnstorm Communications International.