Christmas confronts us with a startling truth: when God chose to reveal Himself fully to the world, He did so by becoming a man.

Not a distant king.
Not a disembodied idea.
A boy—born into obscurity, raised in a family, practicing obedience, growing in wisdom, and stepping into responsibility one faithful day at a time.

God becoming flesh makes Christianity unique. And in coming as a boy who "grew in favor with God" and became a man, Jesus provided the template for masculinity. He showed that a true leader gets down in the trenches, shoulder to shoulder, with those he is called to lead. 

Jesus did not save us from afar. He came close. He stepped into our world and lived the life He calls us to live. He worked with His hands, walked dusty roads, faced temptation, endured rejection, and carried the weight of suffering. He did not merely teach righteousness—He practiced it in the open, shoulder to shoulder with those He led.

God didn’t hand us a list of ideals and demand we reach them. He entered the trenches Himself and showed us the way.

Jesus gathered men not around calling rather than comfort. He invited them into shared life, shared work, and shared risk. He taught them as they walked, corrected them as they failed, and shaped them through the daily demands of obedience and trust. Leadership, in His kingdom, was never about standing above others—it was about serving among them.

For boys and young men, this matters deeply. They don’t just need instruction; they need a pattern. More than providing a template for masculinity, Jesus also demonstrates the pathway from boyhood to manhood. He came as a child—born into a family, raised under authority, shaped by obedience, and formed through ordinary, faithful work. The Son of God entered the world the same way every man must enter manhood: with humility, discipline, and a growing sense of purpose.

Scripture tells us He “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” His life was ordered, intentional, and aimed. He did chores with His mother, worked alongside His father, studied at the feet of the rabbis, and grew into manhood and embraced His mission.

A boy never becomes a man by accident. He needs something solid to follow—someone who shows that strength and humility are not opposites, that authority grows from responsibility, and that courage often looks like faithfulness in ordinary moments. Boys don’t become men in sterile classrooms memorizing ideas; they become men by watching, following, and walking alongside someone who stays—someone who shows what strength looks like when shaped by love.

Boys need to know that they were made masculine on purpose. That Y chromosome is part of God’s design, and there’s a why behind that Y. Masculinity is a good thing! It is bravery harnessed by wisdom, action tethered by self-restraint, self-assertion marked by self-control, and honor clothed in humility. It is willing to risk all, yet tempered by discernment. Its strength is characterized by both self-denial and self-respect. It is possessed by a man who has been taught to forgive his enemies, yet also to be angry and sin not.

In an age full of confusion about what it means to be a man, the answer is not found in trends or slogans. It is found in the Gospels. Anyone who wants to know what a good man looks like needs only to study the life of Christ. 

This Christmas, take time to talk with the boys and young men God has placed in your life about the miracle of the incarnation. About what it meant for Jesus to grow, to work, to lead, and to sacrifice. About how God didn’t ask us to walk a road He was unwilling to walk Himself.

As men, let’s follow Jesus’ example. Let’s show boys what it looks like to shoulder our cross and live a life of faith, obedience, duty, honor, and love. We won’t live up to the ideal in this life. But the incarnation means that we don’t have to. Jesus, our blessed Savior, already did that for us. Now, he’s calling us to follow Him, trust Him, and join Him on a mission to save the world. 

It doesn’t get any better than that.

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