day no. 14,723: becoming a man begins by giving up

1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

If a boy is to become a man, he must begin by giving up boyishness.

There are ways that are unique to children that must be abandoned in order to graduate to the next phase. There are many boys who can shave. Their beards begin to grow though their childish ways remain. They grow muscle and chest hair without giving up a single thing. These are not men. These are children with bank accounts. These are boys with bachelor's degrees.

Becoming a man begins by giving up.

If you can't say, "No," to yourself, you're not a man. If your glory is in your past, your future looks dim. But if you have exchanged the ways of "becoming" and have embraced the ways of "became" you will have glory ahead of you, childishness behind you and responsibility in front of you. Emerging adults are still children unless they emerge. And until they do, they are still babies. And unless they do, they will never grow up. 

Becoming a man begins by giving up.

Instead of handing down the bad habits of abdication, men should aim to give up the habits of procrastination.