Jesus is the sweetest name I know,
And He’s just the same as His lovely name,
And that’s the reason why I love Him so;
Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I know.
Men should be strong, courageous, and masculine, but our families should know us to be sweet men. Sweetness is certainly not effeminate. Our Lord Jesus Christ was definitely not effeminate. He was strongly opposed to hypocrisy. With righteous zeal He made a whip and turned over the tables of the money changers who should not have been in the temple doing their business. With strong words He drove them all out of God’s house and rebuked them for not reverently regarding it as a house of payer. The demons knew who he was and fled at the word of His command (Matthew 21:12-17).
Painters have depicted Christ as being weak and effeminate in character, but the winds obeyed His voice. At this command blind eyes opened. Deaf received their hearing. He cleansed the lepers and raised the dead. And yet at the same time He was the sweet Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the valleys, and the Chiefest apple tree among all the trees of the woods (Song of Solomon 2:1-3).
John the apostle knew His sweetness and even as a grown man at the Last Supper leaned on the breast of Jesus, resting and basking at the heartbeat of his divine love. Mary, the sister of Martha knew how sweet He was. She anointed the feet of Jesus with a pound of very costly spikenard and wiped His feet with her hair (John 12:1-3). How sweet He was to those who met Him and knew Him.
Men, how can we really be Christ-like if we do not have His sweet Spirit coursing through our own veins?
Men, the world needs fathers who are strong, rugged protectors and providers, yet as sweet as men can possibly be in the midst of a hurting and bitter generation of fathers who are so disengaged with their wives and families.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell