In a time when having a degree or certification is so important. it’s not enough to know how to do something. There must be a show of proof that you know. 

True college is not for everyone but at least we can obtain a certification which states that we have at least completed the steps necessary to having the knowledge that we know what we are doing. 

There are shade tree mechanics, but it’s the certification that allows them to move into well-paying jobs. 

I believe the same can be said pertaining to being a man. 

We have too many shade tree males and not enough qualified and certified men. 

I thank God for my father Earlie B. Moffett. Although he never finished school he had a Ph.D. in manhood. 

Paul in his letters to Timothy and Titus outline what it takes to become certified as a “Real Man.” 

Paul (Titus 1:5-9) states a certified man is one who is blameless, free from or not deserving blame, above suspicion, upright, irreprehensible, irreproachable, good. 

I saw this exhibited every day in the life of my father. Was he a perfect man, no, but he was perfect in his motivations to live a life above reproach. Determine not to allow the streets of Detroit to overtake me, he made sure that I would overcome the streets. 

At times, I had questions as to does he really love me. But today, I know with every fiber of my being that he did. Growing up in a broken home, my dad was not going to allow his discrepancies and disabilities to derail and/or destroy my arrival at destiny. 

I may not have gotten everything I wanted, but no one can blame him for not being there. 

I thank God that my father did not see just paying child support as doing his fatherly duties but he stepped up and when needed he hung his foot deep into my flesh until I had shoelaces coming out of my mouth. 

Understand it’s not the fact that he had children by one woman, it’s the fact that he supported her with the children they had together that certifies him to be a real man. 

Certification doesn’t come by creation; it comes by cultivation. 

If you help make them, help mold them. It’s never too late. Ask for forgiveness, forgive yourself. 

Get back in the game. 

Get certified a Real Man.

 

Demetrius Moffett is Senior Pastor of Orange Church of God, 1911 North 16th Street in Orange.