Before you can become the Warrior, you must become the Beloved Son. And in order to truly become the Beloved Son, you will need to reclaim your heart. That is the first mission that will find you and every man: the dangerous and glorious mission of getting your heart back. Until you’ve accomplished that, anything else you attempt is moving out

The ancient Celts had a saying: “Never give a sword to a man who cannot dance.” Being a Warrior involves more than force. It goes deeper: there is a deftness to it, an intuitiveness, and a gracefulness.

Through it, we learn from the Father what it means to be a son, from Jesus how to live in the kingdom, and from the Spirit how to stay intimately close—all things a man must learn to love and to be fully alive.

A step toward becoming the Beloved Son is to rewrite your story. Ask God, “What happened to me?” Don’t make it a one-time, quick-answer question; walk with God in it, and consider the travels of your heart. Please ask these questions, similar to the ones before, When and where were the defining moments of my life? What do I love? What do I hate?

I will never be on the wrong side again! This must become our declaration as well. It is not the mistakes or compromises we have made that define us, painful and costly though they may be. It is our next choice.

Try this: Missions find you. You don’t have to find them. A man will have several missions in his lifetime. They are bigger than he knows and always have a purpose that includes both his heart and the hearts of others.

And above all, turn him to service. That is our greatest goal: to get a man to believe that love of God is earned through service rather than given freely.

I hope to one day see the hearts of men so foundationally settled, so well-trained, so well-equipped, and so well-engaged that when evil dares raise its head, Beloved Sons/Warrior men will know what to do and will do it well.

Here’s what I want you to do: find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. (Matt. 6:6 MSG)