08/15/2026
From this week's email newsletter...
Last week I wrote to you about the need for a man cave in your life. Not the kind where you escape reality and play video games but the kind where you regularly gather with like-minded brothers and get real about life. I hope you have that, but if not, I urge you to waste no time.
You and I need men in our lives who will ask the hard questions. Maybe the hardest question for us to be honest about is: What is your greatest temptation?
That might seem like a loaded question. As I have ministered to and discipled men for quite some time, I have found that it is an understatement to say that men are under attack.
The first ordination of God is marriage and the home. In the first few chapters of Genesis, we find God creating Adam as the pinnacle of his creation, but something was lacking—a suitable helper for him. The only thing that God said was not good was the loneliness of man. The viable option was to create a woman from his side. God did not create another man for Adam but a woman. And thank God he did!
God then joined the two together in a holy union that is incomparable to any other earthly relationship. Marriage is the only relationship in which God says that two people become one. Marriage is to reflect that oneness in every area.
Needless to say, God highly values marriage. He ordained Adam to be the head of the home to lead in Godliness, and it did not take long for Satan to notice. Eve was not even created when God first gave the commands of the garden to Adam. It was Adam's job to lead Eve in Godliness and to inform her of what God said. Somewhere along the way he failed.
We like to blame Eve for the first sin, but the Hebrew text gives us every indication that Adam was right by her side and never said a word. Therefore, I suggest to you that the first sin in the garden was male passivity in the form of Adam's failure to adequately lead in the commands of God and protect his wife from Satan's attack. Adam did not defend his bride against the enemy!
If we are going to have healthy homes, we have to be healthy men who know our calling, live our calling, and protect our calling.
John has given the first century church a great warning in 1 John 2:15–17. Failure to recognize the attacks of the enemy will lead to spiritual demise. The desire of the flesh, desire of the eyes, and the pride of life are the same three temptations Satan used in the beginning and has been using throughout the course of history.
Don’t be foolish and unaware. Satan is out to get you because if he can attack Godly men, he can weaken the home. If he can weaken the home, he can destroy society.
Jesus warned us to totally remove the things that trip us up.
Whatever is leading your flesh astray… run from it.
Whatever is causing your eyes to wander… remove it.
Whatever is bringing pride into your life… destroy it.
With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you can defeat temptation today because Jesus has already conquered the enemy.
Men, what is your greatest temptation? Is it leading you to sin? Don’t let that sin continue and become a stronghold in your life. There is no accountability too great to place in your life.
If you have not read Jim’s latest book, Guardrails: Ten Boundaries for an Unbreakable Marriage, gather some brothers together and apply it before it’s too late.
In Christ you are stronger than even your greatest weakness. It’s time to live like it!
Matt Alexander, D.Min.
National Training Director, Men in the Arena
