Raising Up Godly Boys Through the Example of Christ
Last week I shared the post I wrote for my friend Lee Felix and her "Raising Godly Girls" series. This week I'm excited to announce the companion series my friend Jessica Anderson is hosting on "Raising Godly Boys", and to share an excerpt of the post I wrote for her.
I have to admit that when we found out our second baby was a boy, I was both really excited and incredibly nervous. How was I going to raise a son? Raising up godly boys seemed foreign to me. I'm not a man and don't think like men think! Our first child was a girl, and I understand all things, girl! But a boy?
That boy of ours is now 17 months old. And while I am still really new to this being a mama of a boy role. I feel a little more at peace about it than I did back when I was just 20 weeks pregnant with him! I have gleaned insight from my husband. I've listened to a ton of awesome podcasts about raising godly boys. Not to mention read quite a few books that dealt with that topic a bit.
By far, though, out of all the books and podcasts I have gleaned wisdom from, the wisdom that has equipped me the most for this new role came from my mothering hero, Sally Clarkson. It was a lightbulb moment for me when Sally pointed out that in all aspects of parenting, Christ and the way He discipled the people around Him is our greatest example. With that truth in mind, I want us to look at 5 different principles that I see Christ implementing when it came to how He interacted with His disciples.
5 Principles for Raising Godly Boys
Be Interruptible.
Though this "stereotype", if you will, does not apply to each and every man out there, it does apply to many: men (and therefore young boys) deeply crave respect. So, as you are seeking to grow in closeness with your son, be interruptible for him. When he wants to talk to you about something important to him, listen. If he asks you a question, answer it with your full attention. To not do so will come across as being disrespectful to him and that can, bit by bit, turn him off to wanting to hear from you and grow as close to you as he otherwise would.
We see Christ living out this principle repeatedly throughout the Gospels. Often, He would be teaching truth to a group of people when suddenly interrupted and called elsewhere (Matthew 9:14-26). He would be spending time with just His inner circle of disciples when the multitudes would suddenly rush after Him (John 6:16-25).
He would be teaching the Pharisees on important matters when suddenly many children were brought to Him (Mark 10:1-16). Each time, He showed Himself willing to be interrupted for the sake of the needs of others. What a powerful example for us as busy moms as we are raising up godly boys!
To read the rest, head on over to Jessica's blog!
