A Man’s Code

Love isn’t just a feeling. It’s a choice, and it’s the target. It should be the code we live by, the standard we hold ourselves to.

I am patient. I wait as long as it takes.
I do what I do for the good of others, not to serve my own agenda.
I don’t envy what others have.
I don’t boast about myself.
I walk in humility. I choose to respect others.
I put others first. I don’t demand my own way.
I don’t control or manipulate.

I don’t get easily offended, and I won’t provoke others either.
I keep no record of wrongs.
I don’t celebrate anything that oppose God’s word.
Instead, I rejoice in what He says is right.

When others stumble, I cover their dignity.
I protect, not expose.
I believe the best in people.
I resist cynicism.

Even when I’m disappointed or hurt, I choose hope.
I refuse bitterness.
I never run away.
I stand firm.
I stay steady for the ones God’s entrusted to me.

This is what real love looks like.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
—1 Corinthians 13:4–7

This is the very nature of God. It’s the life Jesus lived. And if Jesus is the model of true manhood, then real men love like this.