Start here. Understand the framework. Then begin Day 1.
REAL MAN is an acronym built from the seven qualities that separate men who actually lead from those who just occupy space. It comes out of decades of watching men in combat zones, marriages, or even churches, who either stepped up or folded when the pressure mounted. Most collapse under the stress, not because they're evil, but because nobody ever told them clearly what a man is supposed to be. They got soft Christianity that told them to feel more and lead less, or they got macho culture that told them strength means never needing anyone.
Both are lies.
The framework is simple. Seven letters. Seven qualities. Thirty-one days, one chapter of Proverbs per day — and if you do it every month for a year, you'll have read one of the Bible's richest books on manhood twelve times. You will not be the same man.
Read the assigned chapter of Proverbs — the whole thing, not just the key verse. Proverbs is meant to be absorbed repeatedly, and each chapter is short enough that there's no excuse for skipping it. After you're done reading the chapter, finish with working through the day's content. The application isn't optional; it's the whole point. James 1:22 says to be doers of the word, not just hearers, and this devotional takes that seriously.
Because there are 31 chapters and most months have 31 days (or close to it), you can run this every single month and it stays fresh because you're a different man each time you read it. The mapping of REAL MAN to specific chapters is intentional — the themes in those chapters line up with those qualities — but don't miss the rest of the chapter trying to hunt for the theme. Let the whole chapter speak.
This works solo, with a small group, or as a father-son discipline. If you have sons old enough to wrestle with these ideas, read it with them; that is how wisdom multiplies — passing real manhood on because the mission doesn't end with you.
Read by Adam Johns
Audio coming soon