Fellas,
Remember this: There was and is only one man that lived a perfect life. It’s not you, and it dang sure isn’t me. Jesus Christ was the one.
Taken from Q Source, a book that Dredd has written as a resource to all things F3 and improving yourself:
Every man has his own personal Jester. A Jester is the temptation of the flesh that hinders Acceleration. It is the one (or at least one) stumbling block that a man finds himself tripping over repeatedly. If he fails to prepare for his Jester, he will not be able to Get Right. Unimpeded, the Jester will undo his hard work and destroy his proper personal alignment.
The Jester is a master liar. Regardless of the type of temptation, his lies fall into a discernible pattern and always have. Here are the 5 biggest lies that the Jester has told:
1: You Are the Boss of Me: “You”, the Jester promises, “can stop me anytime you want. You just say the word, and I’ll be gone.”
2: You Are What You Do: “If you are Virtuous, then why does stumbling come so easily to you? Why does it feel so natural?” We are not what we do, but we were intended to be”
3: You Are (Relatively) Not a Bad Guy: But is really all that bad….on relative terms? What the Jester intends is for us to turn our heads away from the mirror and look upon the lives of our brothers, who (unlike us) are TRULY screwed up. Example: Sure, I’m addicted to porn, but at least I don’t smoke crack like Bob.
4: The Jester and Virtue can Coexist: Have you ever heard this in your head: “Aren’t the big good things you do more important than these tiny little bad things you and I occasionally do together?” YEAH, I smoke crack, but I pay my child support on time.
5: You Can’t Live, if Living is Without Me: A man who breathes dirty air for long enough forgets how sweet the pure stuff is. The Jester depends on our tendency to forget, in order to convince us that we never knew a life without him.
The Jester wants to isolate men. If we’re all alone, the Jester has a much easier path to fooling you into all of the aforementioned lies. And that’s what makes F3 so great and that is why is it so imperative for all of us to have a Shield Lock. Think of a Shield Lock as an accountability group. If you have at least one other man – best number is four – that can hold you accountable for your actions, you may be able to better resist the temptation of your Jester.
Here’s the important part: your Shield Lock has to know what your Jester is. If you’re unwilling to share what that is, your Shield Lock can’t help you, can they? This is not only the important part, but it’s probably the hardest. It took me several years to own up to this and tell my Jester to my Shield Lock. And I’ve only recently shared this in a few Circle of Trusts. Or is it Circles of Trust? Anyway, as men, we want to give the outward image that All is Well. I Got This. Aint No Man Gonna Hold me Down…ok, maybe not that one but hopefully you get the gist. We’re all broken in one way or another. The sooner we face that truth, the sooner we can begin to accelerate as men/husbands/fathers/sons.
F3 is More than a Workout. In fact, it’s 66% more. Fitness is clearly important and is the glue that keeps us in close proximity with each other on a frequent basis. But Fellowship and especially Faith are what will make us a great region. In Freed To Lead, Dredd says that 3rd F is the Dynamite that will help a region explode. Time to face the Jester fellas. If you are looking for a partner reach out to me: 828-324-4413 or hootbowman@gmail.com and I’ll find you someone. Or call/text/email if you want to chat. I’m here to help point you in the right direction. DO NOT think that you can master your Jester on your own.
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