Preparing Sons to be Godly Husbands
I have such a strong desire to teach my four sons (so far) the intricacies of being a godly husband. I want them to know what that looks like. The following are the principles I have impressed upon them that will hopefully help them remember how to treat their wives.
1. They are never too young to know that they are to NEVER to hit girls. My son came to me the other day and said that a girl walked up to him, smiled and punched him in the face! He was so angry. He told me, “Mom, I wanted to hit her back so bad, but I felt God telling me not to.” I replied, “I know it was tempting to hit her back, you want to defend yourself when someone hits you. But, you are stronger than she is. You could hurt her. She is weaker than you. You just CAN’T do that!” I was so proud of him that he listened to God’s voice. He knew the rule and chose not to break it.
2. I teach my sons to open the door for their mother, sister and any other lady that might be walking through the door. This shows common courtesy and respect for the female gender.
3. I want my sons to talk respectfully to their mother. A good rule of thumb is a man will talk to his wife the same way he talks to his mother. Start teaching them young!
4. I am teaching my sons that they need to work hard so they will be able to provide a decent income for their families. I want them to not expect their wife to work, enabling her to stay home and take care of their children. I am teaching them to manage their money so they will know how to work on sticking to a budget.
5. I want my sons to know that they need to compliment their wives. I teach them by encouraging them to compliment their mother and other women in their lives. They are great at giving me compliments now!
6. I am teaching them how to cook and clean up after themselves, so if their wife is sick she will have a husband that can help her out with the cooking and cleaning. They will know how to do laundry, too. They each want 10 children or so, so laundry will definitely be an issue!
7. I tell them over and over that they need to make sure they are the spiritual leaders of their home. They need to teach their wives and children the Word.
8. I talk to them about finding a woman who believes in submitting to her husband. They need to know what kind of woman to be looking for. We have read through Proverbs 31 together and talked about the virtues of a godly woman. They now know they are looking for someone who will work hard, be nicely, but modestly dressed, who will laugh when life gets hard, who will diligently look after her household, who will teach her children about God, love God with all her heart and care about the poor and needy.
It is never too early to prepare them for their spouse. I trust my daughters-in-law will thank me for it later!
STACIE BROWN
The Dalles, Oregon, USA
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