Authentic Masculinity

What if praying for your kids is less about changing them and more about changing you?Most fathers treat prayer like a spiritual checklist.✅ Protect my child✅ Bless my child✅ Help my childBut beneath every request lies a harder truth most men avoid: your children belong to God more than they belong to you.God's unlimited mind is set on your kids in ways your limited mind can't match. He loves them more, thinks about them more, holds them more securely. That's difficult for men who feel 100% responsible for their children's formation.This episode explores why speaking about your children to God — letting them hear how you describe them to their Heavenly Father — shapes their identity and yours. You'll discover practical prayer rhythms that work with short attention spans and why your prayers should begin long before your kids can understand a single word.The freedom anxious fathers need might start with three words: they're not mine.Visit sethtroutt.com for more insights on authentic masculinity that shapes the next generation through consistent spiritual presence.Sign up for the free Vital Signs of Fatherhood Video Series coming January 2026:👉 https://pxllnk.co/fcws8ox

You've read the books. You've bought the age-appropriate Bibles. Maybe you're even doing family devotionals (or have wanted to start). So why does spiritual formation with your kids still feel so unnatural or even stressful?Here's the uncomfortable truth: the faith you model will always overpower the faith you mandate. What's caught beats what's taught — every time. And nothing breeds cynicism faster than a father who preaches growth while secretly believing he's graduated from it.The most toxic message you can send is "this is important for you, but not for me." That dissonance doesn't create disciples; it creates skeptics who've learned that faith is performative rather than personal.What if the key to discipling your kids isn't leading from above but learning from the front? This episode reveals why becoming the "lead disciplee"—visibly hungry, openly growing—transforms family faith from obligation into invitation.Visit sethtroutt.com for more insights on authentic masculinity that leads by learning rather than lecturing.Sign up for the free Vital Signs of Fatherhood Video Series coming January 2026:👉 https://pxllnk.co/fcws8ox

"I grew up going to church. And I hated it." That's not the testimony most dads share with their kids. But the sanitized version—the one that skips the doubt, the boredom, the moments you thought everyone around you was crazy—leaves your children alone when they hit their own wall of unbelief.Here's the problem: you've got a 90-minute documentary's worth of spiritual formation crammed into a 22-second elevator pitch. And you're delivering that same thin version to your five-year-old, your fifteen-year-old, and the skeptic at work.Your story has layers. Some belong to a kindergartner. Others wait until your kid is old enough to carry them. Get the timing wrong and you either miss the window entirely or dump weight on shoulders too young to bear it.The goal isn't eliciting sympathy — that's manipulation. It's creating a place where your child knows you've walked through darkness and found Christ there.Visit sethtroutt.com for more insights on authentic masculinity that shares faith through earned vulnerability, not rehearsed performance.Sign up for the free Vital Signs of Fatherhood Video Series coming January 2026:👉 https://pxllnk.co/fcws8ox

A man who can't be pushed on is a dangerous man. Not dangerous in the way you'd hope—formidable, unshakeable—but dangerous in the way that stunts growth and poisons every relationship around him.When criticism lands, your instincts betray you. The defensive flinch dismisses everything. The people-pleasing collapse accepts everything. Both keep you exactly where you are, and both dishonor the person who risked awkwardness to tell you hard truth.That person offered something precious: an opportunity for growth that self-reflection alone can never provide. Their courage deserves more than your knee-jerk reaction. It deserves a process.This episode reveals a practical framework for transforming feedback from threat into gift, helping you distinguish valid insight from misunderstanding while honoring what both contain.Visit sethtroutt.com for more insights on authentic masculinity that welcomes challenge as the pathway to maturity.Sign up for the free Vital Signs of Fatherhood Video Series coming January 2026:👉 https://pxllnk.co/fcws8ox

What if the best way to be a good dad is to prioritize being a good husband? You're a new father and you're ready to show up. But here's what so many husbands miss: the best thing you can do for your child during the very early years isn't necessarily anything with the child. Instead, the best way to be a good father is to enable your wife to thrive. Love, nurture, and cherish her as she loves, nurtures, and cherishes your child.When you actively support your wife's flourishing rather than assuming she has it all handled, you're serving something far bigger than your marriage. You're stewarding her ability to give herself fully to her calling — as a nurturer, as a follower of Christ, as a whole person — without losing herself in the process.This means finding ways to help her rest, to maintain her identity beyond motherhood, to stay connected to her faith and her community. Not because she's falling apart, but because you're intentionally partnering with her in the season you're both in. The paradox: you become the father your kids need by first becoming the husband your wife needs.Visit sethtroutt.com for more insights on authentic masculinity that serves its wife so she can flourish in all her callings.Sign up for the free Vital Signs of Fatherhood Video Series coming January 2026:👉 https://pxllnk.co/fcws8ox

One of the scariest things the Bible teaches is that the fool thinks he's wise. And if you're pursuing mentorship the way most men do, you might be acting like that fool without realizing it. This episode exposes what the truly wise actually do instead.The successful man didn't build his marriage by spending Friday nights coaching strangers. He's won success through careful boundaries, not by abandoning those principles just because you asked politely. Most men approach wisdom like a job application, then wonder why the interview never happens.But here's the danger: you're assuming one person can fill what you actually need from many. The man hunting a single mentor creates a point of failure that leaves him stranded when that relationship shifts.There's a completely different framework for accessing wisdom that flips your entire approach on its head. Discover why the busiest, most guarded men will suddenly open their lives when you see something worth imitating and ask the right questions about it.Visit sethtroutt.com for more insights on authentic masculinity that builds wisdom through plural counsel rather than dependent relationships.Sign up for the free Vital Signs of Fatherhood Video Series coming January 2026:👉 https://pxllnk.co/fcws8ox

The discussion explores the notion that true value comes from our shared identity as image-bearers rather than our unique traits. It highlights common human struggles, emphasizing that no temptation is truly unique. The fragility of building identity on distinctiveness is unpacked, revealing how circumstances can strip it away. The podcast contrasts influencer culture with a resilient Christian identity, offering freedom from the pressure to stand out. Listeners are encouraged to embrace their commonality while stewarding their gifts wisely.

You think you just need better focus, another productivity hack, or maybe more caffeine. What if your scrolling habit isn't a brain chemistry issue but something far more sinister actively hunting you?The early church understood something we've forgotten: there's a personal force invested in your wasted hours. Every time you doom scroll instead of doing meaningful work, every YouTube rabbit hole, every "just five minutes" that becomes fifty—it's not random weakness. It's calculated warfare against your potential.Imagine if you redirected the last three years of distracted time into fitness, spiritual growth, or your marriage. How different would you be? The gap between who you are and who you could be isn't about willpower—it's about recognizing what's actually happening when you reach for your phone.What the forefathers of the faith believed and understood about the demon that wastes at noonday matters more now than any time in history. Today, that entity lives in your pocket, and it's coming for everything you could become.Visit sethtroutt.com for more insights on authentic masculinity that fights spiritual battles in the everyday grind.Related ListeningSloth (vs. Diligence)Sign up for the free Vital Signs of Fatherhood Video Series coming January 2026:👉 https://pxllnk.co/fcws8ox

"Monogamy is unnatural"—you've heard the claim from internet prophets selling evolutionary permission slips for wandering eyes. The argument sounds scientific: real men spread their seed, build harems, maximize genetic legacy. But this liberation delivers a specific form of slavery.Here's what the polygamy peddlers won't admit: the man with multiple baby mamas isn't demonstrating masculine strength—he's revealing his terror of genuine intimacy. Fake connection with ten women will always feel easier than real connection with one.The Darwinist pitch wants you believing commitment is Bronze Age oppression while serial conquest equals kingly success. Yet the men proudly claiming this victory are dealing their children the worst possible hand while running from the one challenge that would actually transform them.This episode confronts an uncomfortable paradox: monogamy really is unnatural in one critical sense. The solution isn't abandoning covenant faithfulness—it's understanding what "natural" means when your nature itself is broken.Visit sethtroutt.com for more insights on authentic masculinity that pursues healing rather than rationalizing brokenness.Sign up for the free Vital Signs of Fatherhood Video Series coming January 2026:👉 https://pxllnk.co/fcws8ox

What if the key to becoming a better listener starts with admitting you're terrible at it? Most people assume they're good listeners, then proceed to miss what's actually being said, connect dots that don't exist, and hear words that were never spoken.The gap between physical hearing and genuine understanding creates distance in every relationship you value. When you passively let sounds hit your eardrums without working to comprehend, you miss the tension behind words, fail to ask clarifying questions, and settle for surface-level connection.The ancient Hebrew concept of "Shema" exposes this shallow approach—true listening isn't just auditory reception but comprehension, internalization, and response. Yet most men never develop the most critical listening skill: knowing what question to ask next.Embracing silence and admitting your listening deficiencies actually unlocks the connection your marriage, family, and workplace desperately need.Visit sethtroutt.com for more insights on authentic masculinity that hears beyond words to transform relationships.Sign up for the free Vital Signs of Fatherhood Video Series coming January 2026:👉 https://pxllnk.co/fcws8ox