Creflo Dollar - Defining Masculinity - Part 2
A real man respects everyone. We don't tear people down. We respect. And you're hooked up on a date with somebody that doesn't respect you. How is it that you're desperate to marry somebody that doesn't respect you, and you see his disrespect as a sign in the very beginning and still pursue to tolerate it? You would rather devalue yourself just so you can have a man, when you can see, because of his lack of respect for you, I mean, he's standing at the door waiting on you to open the door for him. Let me read Philippians 2:3 through 4 in the NLT. Here's manhood right here. Philippians 2:3 through 4 in the NLT. He said, "Don't be selfish". And you went out on a date with somebody that clearly is self-centered. He's clearly all about himself, and there is a sign. There is a sign.
Once again, that's the sign. You saw that same sign in the previous date. You saw that same sign in the other date, and you keep asking yourself, "Why do I keep ending up with the wrong kind of man"? It's not that. You just keep ignoring the signs. "Don't be selfish". He said, "Don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves". Four, "Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too". When you meet a man who is only looking out for his own interests, that relationship can only be toxic 'cause he's only looking to see what advantages he can get from you. A real man respects everybody.
Number three, he builds up those close to him. A real man builds up those close to him. When was the last time your man spoke words to build you up, to encourage you? Somebody, says, "Well, no, yeah, he ain't did that yet". He might not have known. That's why we're talking about this now. And wonder what kind of guy he would be today had we knew this stuff when he was six, and he was trained in it? I'm not gonna beat my brothers up. I didn't know. You didn't know. But you know now. You can't do no better until you know better, amen?
Number four, he never leads women on. He never leads women on, playing with her emotions. Why don't you lead a woman? These games that men play, "I'm gonna lead you on, I'm gonna play with your emotions". You see, if you're not planning on marrying them, that's somebody's wife you're messing up. Someone has got to come by and repair the damage that you do. That's not fun and games. You're playing around, and you're leading this woman on, and you know good and well, once you get the cookies, you're through, and somebody's gotta come and repair that, that devaluing, that hurt, that buying the lie, that allowing some trust to come out. And you're thinking it's funny. You think it's a game. You get with your guys, and you brag about how you're leading this woman on, and how you're playing with her emotions. That's not a real man. And someone's gotta repair the damage that you caused, and I'm thanking God that there are some men who God has prepared to repair some of the damage that's been done to some of our women.
And God has a man out there that can help repair some of this stuff, that'll love you out of your brokenness, glory to God, that'll love you out of your hurt. But you've gotta work with God. You've gotta quit settling. You've gotta quit settling. You're just settling for anything. You can do bad by yourself. You know that? But at least you ain't gotta turn around and look at the source of why you feel bad. Marrying him 'cause he makes six figures and then wake up one morning, like, "I don't even care how much you make. I can't stand you". And baby, don't marry somebody 'cause they're cute 'cause cute go, cute leaves. "Oh, he got a six-pack," not for long.
Hope you like a one-pack 'cause that's what you gonna end up with. It's got to be, it's got to be more to the marriage relationship than finances. And the pressure that some men carry, they work hard, they work two or three jobs, and they love you. They adore you. All they want to do is serve you. All they want to do is to meet your needs. But you don't want them, because they don't happen to have a million dollars and a mansion. But it's just something about when that love takes place, and he can minister that love to you. You know, I told my wife the other day, I said, "I know you glad you stuck with me". I was as broke as the Ten Commandments Moses dropped at the bottom of Mount Sinai. I didn't have nothing. The first time I asked my wife to marry me, she said no. I said, "Why"? She said, "Baby, you still driving your mama's station wagon". I said, "Yeah, but you still". "Yeah, I love you, but it's not time. It's not the right time now".
The magic... that's the wrong word, but I can't think of another word right now. The power, the Holy Ghost ecstasy, yeah, I like that there, that takes place when love and the desire to want to meet one another's need takes place. I need y'all to understand something. When that is responsible for that marriage, you don't care if you stay in Motel 6, as long as I'm with you. I can stay in a raggedy place and have a genuine pearl like you, and it'll look luxurious because you're there. You hear me? "No, child, that ain't me, child. You know, I gotta marry somebody gonna take care of me. You know, you gotta have some money. You got to feed me. You got to do this. I can't be staying with some ole broke man. No, child, that ain't me". Well, I don't know what you're talking about. All you're doing is setting yourself up for hurt 'cause that ain't gonna last.
All right, number five, a real man works hard but never chases the paycheck or the money. He works unto God and not unto men. A real man works hard and never chases the paycheck or money. Y'all can remember a couple of years ago I did a long teaching. All of our pastors did a long teaching on mammon, and we tried to warn the body of Christ that it was coming. It's here now. People have made money the major motivation to everything, including relationships. People don't get married anymore for love. They get married if the bank account has got the right bottom line. And I want to read some Scripture to you so you'll know that this is just not me. But you're not a real man if you chase the paycheck or if you chase the money; because if you're doing that, you have been captured by the spirit of mammon. Mammon is not money. Mammon is that demonic spirit that's the motivation behind the money.
"Either", the Bible says, "Either you're going to choose God or mammon, but you can't serve God and mammon". Mammon is a demonic spirit that tries to get you to say, "I don't need God. I don't trust God. All I need is money". And the deception is, is that money can handle it all, and it can't. You can buy a big house, but it'll never be a home. You can buy a mate, but they'll never be in love with you, right? You can buy medicine, but you can't buy healing. And somehow, the spirit of mammon has convinced a whole world that when you got money, you've got it all. And I'm telling you, I have counseled millionaires who were ready to blow their brains out. 'Cause they had plenty of money. They didn't have nobody there that they could trust, that would serve them, that would love them, and that would be there for them. 'Cause she wasn't interested in that. She would quickly say, "Oh, I just married you for the money. I don't really love you. I thought I told you that".
Do you know how painful that is? And yet we have a society today that have been seduced by the demon of mammon. Let me show you the Scriptures. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 6:10 in the King James and in the NLT. 1 Timothy chapter 6:10 in the King James and the NLT. We'd better start paying attention to the Bible 'cause this stuff is happening real quick. And I've gotta tell you right now I'm getting up every day, and I am saying, "Please, Lord Jesus, come quickly". I'm like, "Come quickly. I want out of here. Come quickly. Please, come quickly. These people don't believe in nothing. Please come quickly". "Well, I ain't ready yet". Well, you'd better hurry up and get ready 'cause I'm praying every day, "Jesus, come quickly". He says, "For the love of money", all right, so stop right here.
What is the love of money? I thought love of money was having money. No, that's not the love of money. The love of money is trusting money more than you trust God. The love of money is having a relationship with money, where you have more faith and confidence in money than you do God. And he said the love of money is the root of all evil. He didn't say money is the root of all evil. He says having a relationship with money where you trust it more than you trust God will be the root of all evil. So, what's happening when you have an entire world who's trusting money more than they trust God? They provide the root for every evil, wicked thing. "The love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith," look at there, "pierced themselves through," watch this, "with many sorrows".
Now, look at this same Scripture in the NLT, same Scripture in the NLT. He says, "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil". Trusting money more than you trust God is the root of all kinds of evil. Imagine what relationships are like when they're marrying for money. It's the root of all kinds of evil, evil that says, and some of you may not believe this, and some millennials can kind of help me out, but in today's society, there are people who are married for money and still having two or three relationships. There's an agreement. "I'm married, but I'm gonna still be hanging out there having two or three relationships". What the world? But it's the root to all kinds of evil. And some people craving money have wandered, have wandered from the true faith, and they've pierced themselves, pierced themselves with many sorrows.
That's not a happy situation. Everybody looks happy on Instagram, and they may look happy on the photo; but behind, away from the photo, there's a lot of evil, wicked, nasty, weird stuff, stuff that is just stuff. Do you trust money more than you trust God? Do you need money more than you need God? He said it's the root to every kind... do you know how big that is? Every kind of evil can now infiltrate that kind of relationship. And we think, "Well, it's okay 'cause everybody's doing it". Or we think it's okay because, you know, this person's on the internet. He's saying this, and he's saying that, and I really like him. And do you remember Taffi talking about that lying spirit? That lying spirit is simply somebody telling you something that's not the truth, and you're being deceived by a lying spirit that sounds intelligent, that sounds like they know what they're talking about. A Christian man can look and say, "That ain't God. That's the devil".
Look at all the characteristics. Look at this next Scripture, 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 1 through 9 in the NLT and in The Passion Translation if you have it. Let's start with the NLT and The Passion Translation if you have it. 2 Timothy 3:1 through 9. This is prophecy. God prophesies that this would happen. The attack of the enemy is marriages. Why is he attacking the marriage? Because one will put a thousand to flight. That's you as a single person. Two will put ten thousand to flight. That's you as a married person. When you get married, you are ten thousand times more powerful than you were when you were single. And he has always fought against marriages. And then people who think, let me show you how they just so look at the church and look at the things of God. There's so much, they degrade it so badly that all you've gotta do is go on the internet, and get a license, and you can marry people. No honor in it at all. That's just what they feel about it. And you don't need the paper. Just get together.
Well, the paper is saying, "I want to say I'm committed". It's an outward expression of commitment. But that's not what the world wants. It's not interested in commitment. It's interested in, "Let me get in there, get what I can, and let me go. And then let me find me another sucker, and then let me go. And then I'm building my bank account up". Until she get tired of that. "You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times". Okay, we're in the last days. "People will love only themselves and their money". In the last days they'll love only themselves and their money. "They will be boastful and proud. They'll make fun of God, scoff at God, disobedience to their parents, and ungrateful". I've never seen such an ungrateful community of people, just ungrateful. "They will consider nothing sacred". They certainly don't consider marriage sacred. "They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others". Another translation said they'll be addicted to slandering. That's speaking stuff that's not true. "They will slander others and have no self-control over it".
Think of that, addicted to slandering people. "They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless". They'll betray their friends. Look at society. You know, when I was growing up, a friend was a friend. Now you don't know what they gonna do. Most of your trouble comes from people you thought were your friends. "They will betray their friends. They will be reckless, they will be puffed up with pride, they will love pleasure, they will love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly". He said, "Stay away from people like that. They are the kind who work their way into people's homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. Such women are forever following new teachings".
Now, that's the truth. You can't sit your tail down for a minute and follow sound teaching. You always looking for the next new thing and the next new teaching that's gonna give you a chill or something, or maybe you're just looking for a new place where you might find the husband of your dreams or whatever. Another Christian talks about silly women. "Such women are forever following new teachings". Look at it. "They're forever following new teachings, but they're never able to understand the truth". They're so busy following something, they can't even understand the truth when it comes before them. "These teachers oppose the truth, just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. But they won't get away with this for long".
Hear the Word of the Lord. This ain't happening for long. All of this stuff that's going on right now has an expiration to it. There's an expiration date to this. This stuff gonna get so bad, people gonna be mentally going crazy, and demon possession like you ain't never seen it before. Have you noticed the number of mass shootings and stuff that's going on? That's demonically influenced. People don't, "I don't know why". I do. They are demonically, not oppressed, they are demonically possessed. They have opened their lives up through the pain and the hurt, and the, just the trauma in their minds to demonic forces that's causing them to do all the things that need to be done. It's in the world, and it is in the church. "But they won't get away with it. Someday everyone, someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres".
I wanted you to see this because you're going around like, Taffi and I are like, "What in the world is going on"? Well, this is what's going on. Satan has unleashed an attack against relationships, ultimately trying to get people to despise marriages and the commitment of marriage, and they're trying, the norms and the values of the world have redefined the whole thing. And ain't nobody in the world gonna agree with what I'm saying. I already know that, but I've got to say it anyway, 'cause I got to see Jesus, I've gotta say it anyway. I can't be saying stuff, you know, to make, well, make somebody like me. I'd better not say this or they won't like me. They don't like me already, so I've got to say what I need to say. 'Til the world changes its nature, I've got to say what I need to say. At least you're gonna know: if you're going to go to hell, you might as well go to hell knowing the truth.
And I ain't saying nobody going to hell, but if you don't make Jesus the Lord of your life, and you allow these foolish things to just keep you from the truth, and if I don't teach the truth, then when you get ready to change, then what are you gonna hear? If I don't flood the airwaves with the truth, and you get ready to change, what are you gonna hear? That's my assignment. You know I've been preaching every day for one year and five months, trying to flood this thing with the truth? "Well, don't you get tired"? Yes, I am exhausted, but I can't let the devil win. I can't let falsehood win. I can't let the spirit of lie win. The Bible said the truth is the thing that we've gotta get, the spirit of truth.