In the 13th episode of the Men at Grace podcast, Chris Rivers, Scott Mozingo, and Paul Gaeto, a member of Grace Church’s Downtown campus, discuss the stewardship of masculine energy in retirement and explore ways to incorporate serving and discipleship opportunities in this unique season of life.  Episode # 13 Study Questions: https://resources.gracechurchsc.org/podcasts/men-at-grace KEY POINTS Paul and his wife entered retirement in their fifties and moved to the Greenville area. They quickly became involved at Grace and began thinking about how they wanted to spend their retirement years.  Paul noticed how the lives of many of his Christian role models seemed to take a downward turn when they entered retirement. They often became self-indulgent, angry, bitter, and anxious. Paul knew he wanted to take a different approach.  He began to ask himself the question, “How do I structure my retirement to disciple people?” With this question in mind, Paul created a personal mission statement: Please God, serve others. Taken from the principles outlined in Matthew 22:37-39, this life motto helped Paul steward his energy towards pleasing God and serving others. The concept of stewardship--active and responsible management of God’s creation for God’s purposes-- served as a guide in Paul’s life. He identified three different ways in which men steward this energy: Deploying it positively- seeking to honor God, actively using the gifts He has given Squandering - a form of passivity, seeking comfort, no real plan or direction Deploying it negatively - defaulting to anger, anxiety, bitterness, self-soothing, sexual sin, or anything that distracts from pleasing God and serving others Paul’s desire to steward his time and energy wisely, and his involvement in a discipleship focused church, opened the door for him to serve in a number of ministries. From acting as a guardian ad litem and mentor to foster children to serving in the Jump Start prison ministry, as well as his involvement in the Bridges for a Brighter Tomorrow college mentoring program, Paul stepped outside his comfort zone and interacted with people in the margins who need to see the love of Christ. While it is important to find opportunities to serve and steward energy wisely, activity by itself is not the goal. Activity should always lead to greater devotion. Paul saw this principle firsthand through his experiences. The more he humbled himself and stepped outside of his comfort zone, the closer he felt to God and more he was able to see God at work in his life. SCRIPTURE REFERENCES Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39 RESOURCES Money Matters is a class that helps participants renew their mindset concerning personal finance, become good and faithful stewards of the resources God has given them, and bring God glory through their money as well as their lives. https://gracechurchsc.org/moneymatters If you know a man that would benefit from hearing this episode, share it with him. Having intentional conversations around these principles is a great way to disciple and help others move towards Christ. Have questions or want us to discuss a topic? Email us at: [email protected]. Thanks to Scott Beardsley and Lauren Bryant for their help in producing this episode.