God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
When you are tempted to any vanity – set the blessed Redeemer before you, consider His example, and ask yourself, “How would Jesus, my Lord and Master, have acted in such a case? Would He have spent His time upon such trifles? Would He have spoken such and such; or done this or the other thing, which I am solicited to do? And shall I give way to that which would be a manifest deviation from His holy example? God forbid!”
Though corrupted by the fall, God has wired men and women differently. Men are built by God to be protectors and providers to be defenders and conquerors for good. And when we don’t use these tools in the home and in the church, we’ll find ourselves using them in other meaningless (from an eternal perspective) activities like the rest of the culture. We immerse ourselves in the pursuit of money and yard work and athletics and automobiles and high scores on video games. We devote our hearts to the things that are carnal, worldly and selfish.