What virtues should we strive to instill in our boys as they grow into men?

Robert Bosley suggests that the answer lies in the qualities Paul lists in his letter to Timothy, describing the requirements for an elder. These are virtues that every man should aspire to, Bosley explains. An elder, or a mature Christian man, should be someone that everyone in the church can look up to. He should be above reproach, faithful to his wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, and respectable. These are the traits we should aim to cultivate in our boys.

Bosley emphasizes the importance of teaching boys to control their natural masculine urge to fight. They should know when it's right to fight and when it's not. A man does not use his strength to hurt his family or those he loves, but to protect, defend, and promote the gospel. As our boys grow older, we should strive to raise them into men who are respected by their peers, the community, and the church.

1 Timothy 3:2 (NKJV): 'A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach.'

What are we trying to raise our boys to be like? What are we trying to raise these future men to be like? And you see, you know, the requirements for an elder in Paul's letter to Timothy. And really, what are these requirements? They're the virtues that every man ought to aspire to.

Because what should an elder be? It should be a man that everyone in the church can look up to. It's like that's what a mature Christian man is. So when Paul says an elder must be above reproach, faithful to his wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, so on and so forth. These are the virtues we're trying to raise and to inculcate in our boys of, you're not to be quarrelsome.

Yes, you can have that fighting character, but know when it's right to want to fight. You don't need to always be picking a fight with your little brother or your sister. You need to get a control on this natural masculine urge to fight. God put that there for a reason, but it needs to be controlled. You have to be self-controlled.

You can't just fly off the handle. You can't lose control like that. Why did you hit your brother or throw that at your sister? No, that's not what a man does. You don't use your strength to hurt your family or to hurt those that you love.

You use your strength to protect, to defend, to promote the gospel. Look at your children as they're growing older and seeing like, oh this is someone that can be respected, someone that has the respect of their peers and others in the community and the church, wanting our boys to have that dignity that ought to come with being a man of God.