I have met a lot of guys in my life, but I have met very few men, I have met a lot of women in my life, but few ladies.
I firmly believe that no lost person can be counted in the latter form of this statement, there are no individuals, and never have been, on this planet who have not given their lives to Jesus Christ that can be counted as men and ladies. Every single person on this planet who is not saved would vehemently disagree with me, in fact, many Christians would perhaps also, and they would give numerous examples from all throughout history, and everyone of them would be incorrect. Every standard they would set would be one of those set upon the giving of these titles by men of the world and the perceptions of what those titles mean, specific not only to the time the individual lived, but based on a construct imposed, if you will, by mankind.
For men it would include of course physical strength, perhaps an incredible intellect, the ability to retain and recall information at will, or the talent of leading men, or for our age, and perhaps some others, the apt saying of, “The ballfield, the billfold, and the bedroom.”
For women it would be that of outward physical beauty, the demeanor she portrays in public, or the position and stature she holds within the world that is generally dominated by men. All of these of course miss the mark completely, and in a sense add meaning to Romans 2:11, that “For there is no respect of persons with God.”
What is a lady then, where shall we start, perhaps with the infamous Proverbs 31 woman, the lady of the Lord that knows in all humility that she is serving Christ with all she has been blessed with, to the best of her ability, no matter how much or how little, to use the term quite loosely, the lady whose husband trusts in her implicitly, who in humility knows full well that all she has is from the Lord. The woman of the world is akin to the one where the husband finds great relief living in the corner of the attic, instead of the wide-open house, (Prov. 21:9) where the continual dropping of rain is compared to that woman, (Prov. 27:15) where a gold ring in the nose of a pig has greater benefit than a beautiful woman with no moral character. (Prov. 11:22)
The lady of Christ is fully aware that beauty is fleeting, but also knows full well that God looks on the heart. It is why I have always prayed for my lovely wife’s heart to reflect the heart of Christ, for when I married her, she was a woman, but she is now growing into the finest lady I have ever known.
As for the man, how does one know when they are speaking to just another male on the planet, and when they are in the presence of a man? “Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.” (1 Sam. 4:9) These individuals do not just act like a man, they exude manhood, their yes means yes, and their no means no, (James 5:12) they are fervent in their desire to serve, and no wall of the world can hold them back, they have the Holy Spirit of God within them, and they walk consistently in the knowledge of that blessing and power.
The man of God kneels to no one, save Christ, he is adamant in the extreme, but considerate to all, truth is the belt he wears, (Eph. 6:14) he is well versed and instructed on the armor of God, he is wise with wisdom from the Lord, and he seeks nothing that will not glorify his Savior. This man looks like any other individual, until he opens his lips to speak.
Men and ladies of the Most High God are rare among us, it is not something that can be completely attained in this life, and that is one of the ways they are set apart, in humility and truth they continue the pursuit, nothing but the glory of God matters. The most telling sign? They do not care one bit what you think about them, unless they have in some way dishonored the Lord by their actions or words. They serve Christ at His pleasure, and by doing so, they become His jewels. (Malachi 3:17)
