7 Tips For Raising Godly Sons While Living In A Broken World

7 Tips for raising godly sons while living in a broken world.

Nearly eleven years ago my mom gifted me a pretty floral Bible that I still read from each day. On the inside cover she wrote two Scripture references, one of them being 3 John 1:4 “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

I didn’t fully grasp the weight of these words until a few years ago when I become a mother myself. Now, as a mom of two sweet children, I desire nothing more than to know that my own children belong to the One who died to be their Savior and are living a life that will honor Him.

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Raising Godly Sons

Raising godly sons (and daughters for that matter) while living amidst such brokenness in a fallen world is no easy feat. We truly need to be intentional in the way we parent our children and pour God’s truths into them every chance we get.

As I write this my son is still quite young. His little 5 year old mind and learning delays make it a struggle to grasp much of what Mommy and Daddy share with him about Jesus and the Bible.

All of that to say, I’m no expert in the art of bringing up boys with a heart for Jesus in the 21^st century. But I do know our children’s Creator and that He has graciously given us His Word to instruct us on this parenting journey.

God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) nor does He desire to leave us in the dark as to how to best love and lead our children. May we set aside life’s distractions, realign our priorities, and genuinely seek Him for the answers we crave. 

7 Tips For Raising Godly Sons in a Broken World

I’d like to invite you to dive into God’s Word with me as we seek to follow Him in raising godly sons for His glory.

To raise godly sons we need to…

1. Share of God’s Faithfulness and Character

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Chapter 6 of Deuteronomy was a huge eye opener for me as to what exactly my role is as a parent. Yes, my role is to love, nurture, protect, provide for, correct, discipline, and guide my children… but there is so much more to it than that.

Our love for our Heavenly Father should be so great that our thoughts naturally drift to Him throughout the day and we delight to talk of His goodness with our children.

God’s Word tells us that as parents we need to diligently share these truths with our children all throughout the day. The word translated diligently in verse 7 is the word shanan in the original Hebrew language. Shanan means “to whet, sharpen, or pierce”.

I’d encourage you to re-read those verses while inserting the above definition for the word diligently.

Once I allowed the weightiness of those words to sink into my own heart a few years ago I realized the incredible responsibility we’re given as parents to raise these precious gifts for God’s glory.

The faith we live out before their eyes should pierce our children’s hearts and create within them a sincere love for their Creator too.

2. Share the Hope of Christ

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Not only should we be sharing God’s Word with our sons we also need to faithfully share the gospel with them. The good news of Christ is the most important news our children will ever hear.

John 3:16 is the most well-known verse in all of the Bible, and yet surprisingly the verses that follow are rarely spoken of.

John 3:17-19 goes on to say “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”

Our sons need to understand that, yes, they are incredibly loved by the Creator of the universe, but that we are also broken people in desperate need of a Savior. The natural bent of our hearts is to “love the darkness”.

Although our toddlers and preschoolers may not be able to fully grasp it all we can certainly still share of our sin nature that separates us from a holy God and His incredible goodness in sending us His perfect sinless Son to take our place.

We can share the gospel with our two year old as we pray together before bed. We can share it with our 10 year old when he’s struggling with bitterness in his heart, and we can share it with our teenager when he’s feeling pressured to fit in.

The gospel is the good news of God’s gracious act in sending us a Redeemer to rescue us from the bondage of our sin when we deserve the very opposite. And it is that same forgiveness that regenerates our hearts after we’ve come to a saving faith in Christ.

Responding to the gospel is not a single act of repentance, but a continual dependence upon a merciful Savior.  

Related: RAISING A GODLY DAUGHTER: 7 TIPS FOR PARENTING GOD’S WAY

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT PARENTING?

3. Teach Them To Guard Their Hearts

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Proverbs 4:23

Raising a godly son in an ungodly world is becoming increasingly difficult. Our sons are bombarded with so many enticing messages each day trying to lead them astray.

While our boys are still young we must be faithful to guard their hearts against selfish pursuits and harmful influences that can so easily seep into their hearts.

It is also our job to teach them to guard their own hearts once they’re old enough to understand what that means. We need to teach them to think logically and use the filter of God’s Word to make decisions, not their volatile hearts and youthful passions.

Although it is not a comfortable topic to talk about, the sad reality is that the average age of porn exposure is 12 years old. And nearly 65% of our youth are seeking out pornography on a weekly basis.

These disturbing facts can make us feel defeated and discouraged as parents, but our children are not destined to be a statistic.

Yes, our enemy will do everything in his power to destroy our children, marriages, and families (1 Peter 5:8). But please remember that we serve a gracious God. In His strength our sons can learn to overcome the temptations, lies, disappointments, and difficulties life throws their way (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We must teach our boys to examine their hearts. Turn away from sin. And put on the armor or God to withstand the attacks of the enemy.  

4. Be A Christ-like Example

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:1-2

As a busy mom it’s all too easy for me to become consumed with doing, planning, making, and checking (things off my list each day) that I forget who I represent. In the busyness of life I sometimes forget that I am my children’s example of who Christ is. I allow the stress, distractions, and responsibilities to trump my desire to simply rest in Jesus.

Are our children seeing a mom and dad who sincerely love their Savior and delight to follow His lead? Are our words laced with love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness? Do our actions reveal goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

Our children will know a tree by its fruit. They know if our faith is genuine or if we’re merely putting on a show. May our example before their eyes of what it means to be a follower of Christ be worthy of them to imitate.

5. Pray For and With Them

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:6

I think if we’re honest, we often underestimate the power of prayer. We don’t “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Instead, we settle for the lie that maybe we’re a bother to God… He is limited to help us… or doesn’t even hear us.

But, Friend, there is unimaginable beauty in prayer. Prayer allows us to draw near to the heart of our Savior. Prayer strengthens our faith and is our greatest weapon against our enemy.

When we pray for our son we are praying to the very One who spoke him into existence, knows him better and loves him more than we can even fathom. The One who knows the exact number of hairs on his head (Luke 12:7), his thoughts before he speaks a single word (Psalm 139:4), and loves him enough to send His own Son to die in his place.

Prayer changes things.

May we be faithful to pray for our sons and pray with our sons. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” Matthew 18:20.

6. Invest In Your Relationship

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

The typical modern family is rushed, stressed, and exhausted. We act as if we don’t have enough time now and yet somehow assume we’ll have all the time in the world later to spend with our loved ones.

The busyness of life is clearly putting a strain on families like never before. As parents we must be intentional in the time we spend with our boys.

No matter how old they get (or how much they may act like they don’t want it) they will always need our undivided attention, our support, and our praise.

Instead of accomplishing everything on our to-do list for the day let’s put something on the back burner and simply spend time with our son.

Let’s play with Legos. Skip some rocks. Shoot some hoops.

Engage in conversation.

Make him smile.

Laugh together.

May there never be any shadow of a doubt in his mind that we are his biggest fan and he is truly loved beyond measure.

7. To Raise Godly Sons – Rest In Jesus

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

Resting is not something that I’m very good at. As a determined perfectionist I often feel that if I’m resting then I’m failing. But God’s Word tells us that this assumption is simply not true. Although our hard work pleases our Father, He is never more pleased then when we learn to simply rest in Him.

This principle holds true in our parenting efforts as well. It took me several years to fully realize that my children’s behavior is not a direct result of my parenting. We can parent to the very best of our ability and yet our children can still remain stuck in sin, half-hearted, defiant, or rebellious.

Our job as parents is not to control our children, modify their behavior, or force our faith on them. It is simply to follow God’s lead, point them to Jesus, and then rest in knowing that God’s love for our children is even greater than our own.

As we learn to rest in Jesus we are also by default learning to relinquish our desire to control and have everything go according to our plans. Our resting results in our depending on Christ which is exactly where our dependence should lie.

Friend, parenting is HARD. WORK. Raising godly sons can seem near impossible in the day and age we’re living in, but thankfully with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). In His strength we can do our best to be a light and raise our boys for His glory.