5 TIPS ON RAISING BOYS TO BE MEN OF GOD

photo courtesy of LifeChurch.tv/Open

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1. DON’T FORCE JESUS:  I have a good friend named Brad Matthias.  Brad is one of the genius’ behind the tween ministry iShineLive and he has to be one of the greatest Daddios on the planet!  Brad was sharing his parenting journey with me and it literally rocked my black and white world.  Brad didn’t force Jesus on his kids, he didn’t force them to jump through ridiculous Jesus hoops, he didn’t force them to “DO” things that Christians kids typically do and he let them walk away from Jesus if they chose.  (Scary stuff for sure!!)  Instead…Brad chose to teach them Jesus, he chose to love them like Jesus, he chose to cultivate an inward relationship instead of outward sin management and he prayed his guts out and he allowed Jesus to do only what Jesus can do.
2. TEACH THEM TO LISTEN TO THE SPIRIT OF GOD:  My youngest son Tifton has had ears to hear the Spirit of God from a very young age.  One day I was sitting in a weekend worship experience at church and the T man was in tears.  I asked him what was wrong and he said God was speaking to his heart, but didn’t know what he was saying.  This happened 5 or 6 times over that year and every time Tifton said God was talking to him but he didn’t know what God was saying.  I spent time with Tif teaching him how to hear the Spirit of God as well as how to sit in silence and allow God to speak.  A year later Tifton was crying after I spoke one night, I came up to him and asked him what was wrong and he told me that God was speaking to him and that he finally knows what God was saying…he said that God told him that it was time to receive Him as his Lord and Savior.  Don’t be afraid of or shrink back from teaching your kiddos about the Spirit of God…instead teach them how to listen and hear what the Spirit of God has to say.
3. TEACH THEM TO BE BOLD:  I am sick of weak, timid, fearful, risk-averse followers of Jesus.  I believe that parents should teach their boys to be BOLD and stand up for their faith in the midst of peer pressure, be BOLD and invite their friends to youth group, be BOLD and say no to bullying, be BOLD and let everyone know they love Jesus, be BOLD and say no when everyone else is saying yes, be BOLD and share their toys and be BOLD and show honor/respect their teachers.  Mom and dad…this is not caught, but this must be taught!
4. TEACH SAMSON:  My friend Craig Groeschel, the Senior Pastor of LifeChurch.tv, did a sermon series this year on Samson.  And let me just say that this series will absolutely change your life.  Dad’s, you gotta sit down with your boys and watch this entire series!!  You can watch it HERE.
5. LIVE IT OUT:  If you want your boys to grow up and be men of God…you can’t pass down something you’re not living out!!
   

On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being not at all – 5 being you’re doing a great job) let me know how you grade on raising your boys to be men of God?

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