Raising Godly Boys Minute

A comedy group once posted a fake commercial online for a device called “husband glasses.” When a wife put on the glasses, she no longer noticed the clutter in their home– but she could see a deer out of their window quite well. That satire video points out an interesting truth. Starting from a very young age, boys and girls see the world quite differently. While girls focus on details, boys tend...

Sometimes a country music lyric just nails it. In 1999, a unique song was released on country radio. It wasn’t about trucks or dirt roads– it was about the relationship between a loving stepfather and a stepson. To everyone’s surprise, the song reached number one on the country charts. The key lyric, sang by artist Brad Paisley, reads:  “I hope I’m at least half the dad that he didn’t have to be.”...

Henry David Thoroeau once said, “I go a-fishing and a-hunting every day, but omit the fish and the game, which are the least important part. I have learned to do without them.” Even when our fishing lines are slack and our deer tags are unfulfilled, we men have been wired by our Creator to need challenge and adventure.  And boys today are no exception. Each week, help your son find a new activity...

You wouldn’t eat a raw potato, of course. But what if you chopped that potato up, and put it in hot oil for several minutes? You would have delicious, golden french fries. As parents, we want our sons to have the happiest life possible, free of things that are risky or hurtful. We often wish we could take away every obstacle in our boy’s way so that he can accomplish all of his dreams. But don’t b...

In 1962, the Soviet Union was winning the Space Race. To inspire the nation, President Kennedy announced, “We choose to go to the Moon.” He admitted that this wouldn’t be easy, but that we would succeed. President Kennedy was right. Achievement is built on the backbone of hard work. But it’s competition that spurs us to even greater heights of progress. That’s why it’s unfortunate that today’s soc...

Boys love action and adventure. God made them that way. But in our quest to keep them safe, we discourage risk. The result is that boys don’t have an outlet to test their courage and physical abilities. That’s one reason video games are so popular. Boys play them for hours, trying to conquer new levels and beat the competition. But life is more than a video game. As parents, we need to help boys d...

Every night, you make sure your phone is plugged into its charger. If you forget, you know that your phone won’t last through the next day. Your son is much the same way. If you don’t make sure his “battery” is charged at home, he will struggle to sit still and focus while he is at school. Make sure your boy has plenty of opportunities each day to do fun and fulfilling things. Create an obstacle c...

The USS Gerald R. Ford is America’s newest aircraft carrier. It’s longer than 3 football fields and taller than a 24-story building. But when this massive ship needs to stay in place, it relies on a 30,000-pound anchor. In life, your son doesn’t need a physical anchor, but he does need to be grounded in God’s Word. Today’s anti-Christian culture will try to make him believe that choices of moralit...

A young man was on his first river rafting trip with a group of friends. As he paddled through the rapids, he glanced at the shore and was surprised to see his dad, waving and cheering the group on. Later on, he saw his father again, standing on the shore, shouting encouragement. The boy realized that his dad was running along the shore and waiting at each section of rapids to cheer his son on. Th...

Today’s boys seem busier than ever. They dart from one activity to another, and yet remain confused and unguided. Why is that? Consider, for a moment, the Falcon 9 rocket. It launches astronauts into space at more than 17,000 miles per hour! But if the rocket doesn’t go the right direction, the mission is doomed. That’s why guidance and navigation systems are so important. They keep the rocket ste...

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health issues of boys today. But why are boys so afraid? First, society has made a sport of putting men down. Many women think that in order to be empowered, they need to prove that men are beneath them. Second, our enemy, Satan, knows that if boys believe they are weak and not needed, they will not accomplish God’s purpose for their lives. As parents we mu...

It’s a tough world out there for boys. Research shows that they’re often unguided, ungrounded, unappreciated, and uninspired. Part of the reason for this is that, in the name of progress, the value of manhood is being discounted. In fact, the term “toxic masculinity” is used to shame people into thinking that gender differences are bad. But they aren’t. God designed boys and girls to be different...

How much have you thought about brains lately? In a typical male brain, neural connections go from the front to the back, while in a female brain the processing goes side to side. Boys also have more gray matter than girls, and scientists think this is why boys often excel at subjects like math, while girls enjoy language and arts. And since your son’s prefrontal cortex is bigger, he is more likel...

Does it ever seem like your son just doesn’t listen to you? Well, you may actually be right. Studies have found that boys are worse listeners than girls. Males only process information with one hemisphere of their brain. They also hear high frequency sounds– like a mom’s voice– at significantly lower decibels. Here are some tips to help your son be a better listener. First, minimize distractions,...

Batman struggles with being obsessive. Iroman has a problem with arrogance. And the Hulk…well, I think you can guess what his character flaw is. We never say a superhero isn’t super just because they have issues. So why do we as men think we cannot be good mentors, just because we aren’t perfect? Forty-three percent of boys today are raised by a single mom. Seventy-eight percent of teachers are fe...

I will make a bet that your cell phone is within reach right now! The first cell phone weighed 2.4 pounds and was larger than your head. That’s definitely not something you’d want to carry in your pocket. Fortunately, today’s cell phones are much smaller and lighter. They allow us to quickly talk and text each other. And yet, despite the extraordinary technology within a cell phone, these devices...

Are you hanging on …too tightly? In 1956, Jim Elliot was murdered by Indians in the jungles of Ecuador. Newspaper reporters wondered why this missionary would risk his life for uncivilized Indians. Though Jim Elliot died at only 28 years old, he had a proper perspective of life. He said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Too often, we hold tightly to posses...

In today’s society, we expect immediate results. When we try something new, we want instant success. But life doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes life is hard and tough. Sometimes failure crashes over us like an avalanche. During these times, it’s easy to grow discouraged. Maybe even angry. But if you are wise, you’ll use times of fatigue, frustration, and failure to teach your son important l...

“Trust your instruments.” This mantra is repeated all through flight school. While flying, it’s easy to get disoriented visually, especially in thick fog. Pilots must learn to trust their gauges, not their vision. Boys today are also “flying through fog,” so to speak. In the confusion of cultural relativism and gender fluidity, young men don’t know where they are or where they are going. So they o...

In 2010, a man named Forrest Fen buried treasure in the Rocky Mountains, and published a book with clues to its whereabouts. Thousands went searching for it. Four men even died during the hunt. Finally the box was found in 2020. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most of the people who embarked on that search were male.  From the time we are very young, boys love a good challenge. If young men...

In 1899, an inventor put batteries in a tube and created a portable electric light. There was only one problem– the light would only stay on for about three seconds. The device did not sell well, and people jokingly called it a “FLASH light.” Today, of course, the flashlight is a household staple, with some models staying lit for at least 50 hours. As the parent of a teenage boy, it’s easy to feel...

A college student accidentally solved an impossible math problem. George Dantzig arrived late to class to find his peers working silently on several math problems written on the chalkboard. George worked through the problems and turned his paper in. Later, he learned that one of those problems wasn’t homework after all, but was an equation that mathematicians considered unsolvable. George solved t...

Cultures all around the world have rituals to signify a boy becoming a man, and they range from straightforward to extreme. Some societies have young men go on a hunt. In one small country, a boy participates in a primitive form of bungee jumping. In another, he must successfully jump over a cow to prove his manhood. Others simply send their sons into the wilderness to survive. Although those ritu...

Do you remember the day your son took his first step? Perhaps he had already been standing for a few weeks while holding onto the couch. But at some point, he took a wobbly step toward your outstretched arms. You clapped and cheered and gave him a giant hug. Learning to walk is a key milestone in a boy’s physical development. But learning to walk worthy is just as important for a boy’s spiritual d...

Boys love action and adventure. That’s why paddling a canoe across a lake or along a river is a time-tested way to exercise their minds and bodies. But have you ever heard the phrase “Up a creek without a paddle”? It refers to being in a difficult or dangerous situation where you can’t get yourself out of the problem or predicament. As your son grows up, don’t let him be stranded “Up a creek witho...