Christianity can be condensed into four words: Admit, Submit, Commit and Transmit. -Samuel Wilberforce
7 Ways to Help Our Sons to Become Men
When I started having children I always thought the Lord would bless us with only girls for some reason.Especially when I gave birth to my second girl.I loved having daughters because I was an only child and felt that I could relate more to raising a daughter. My very own daughter... (insert sigh of happiness)!But then all of the sudden I was a mom of a gorgeous smiling, curly haired boy. He was perfect in every way and I adored him to pieces.Then a few more boys came along and I adored them too. So this is what having boys was like!There were fun and energetic and low maintenance (just wash and give them food as needed). They were rough and tumble and care free. What fun!But boys grow up quickly to become men. And one thing I don’t want to do is let the window of opportunity pass me by to help them to become they need to become.So today we are sharing six ways to help our sons become men that will hopefully bless you if you have a son:1. Pray for him – It is so important to lift him up to the Lord. The Lord sees and knows all and even knows your sons heart. Pray for wisdom and guidance as you teach him and that he would show you exactly what you should do. Every son is different and will need His guidance.2. Encourage him to look to God’s example – Teach him scripture at a young age and have Bible studies with him so that he can learn the whole counsel of God’s word. Gods example of a steadfast, righteous, and holy Father in heaven is something he can always look to even when other men in his life might fail him.3. Point him to your husband – Whenever I can I try to point out good qualities in their father or just direct them to him in general. I know that they are around me all day (and their four other sisters) so it is good to send them to dad when he gets home from work so that they can get a good dose of masculinity!4. Spend time together – Boys learn to become men by spending time with their father. I try to make sure they get in time to do guy things together with out interrupting or protesting that they need to do something else. All those other things can wait so that they can spend those precious minutes with Dad.5. Teach him character – We are constantly emphasizing character in this house. My children are not perfect and so it encourages them to hear stories that include good character in them to spur them along the way. We use books, movies, current events, real life situations to teach as much character as we can on a daily basis.6. Teach him to work hard – It is important for boys to work hard and not be lazy. They will become the breadwinners one day when they have a family and ease and comfort will not be an option. I have friends who teach their children to work hard on the farm or go to work with their husbands to teach them how to become hard workers. Since we don’t have that where we live I have the kids take over practically every job I can think of on the home front so that they can grow their skills and become a confident at working.My job has switched from doing most of the housework when the children were little to more of a manager of the home and overseeing all the chores, etc. It is an adjustment but I know that it will benefit them in the end. Never do everything for your child or you will train them to become lazy! You will be hurting them in the end because they will not have learned the value of hard work–something they were created by God to do.7. Teach him to honor women – I try to teach my sons to treat the female gender differently and to defer to them when it is called for. I want them to love their wives and daughters one day so I try to teach them to do that while they are young with how they treat me and their sisters. They open the doors for us, let us go first in line, learn to communicate peacefully with us, and so forth. Treat them to be gentlemen at a young age and their future wives will thank you for it!8. Allow him to share his heart with you – Be sure to remember to have a relationship with your son. There is no fool proof formula so it is good to always know what is going on in their hearts and helping them through life along the way. They need you to be there for them with an open ear and heart. Be there for them when they need you!I hope this list will help you as you raise your sons to become men.Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to raise sons that will bring you glory. Help bring them to manhood in the way that they need to be and not the way I think it should be. Let him have a heart for you most of all and that he would follow after you all the days of his life. Keep him from evil and keep his path straight on the narrow road not swerving to the left or to the right. Help him to courageously defend and contend for your Word. And may he serve you faithfully until his last days. Amen. Do you need more encouragement or reading on the topic of boyhood? We recommend Raising Real Men:
Teenaged boys put away a startling amount of groceries. Young boys can be downright destructive. They’re noisy, unconcerned with personal hygiene, and the dog has a longer attention span – or so it seems, some days. If this is God’s chosen gift to us, then why does it seem so hard?
How can we prepare these boys to serve God when we can barely make it through the day. Isn’t there a better way? The answer is yes. Raising Real Men looks beyond the untied shoes and dirty jeans to what the Lord means your son to be.
Learn how to help him focus on schoolwork, find real heroes, stand alone when he needs to, and become a real man one day. Don t just survive raising boys, succeed at it and learn how to love them as they really are.
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