Understanding the Purpose and Power of Men

Understanding the Purpose and Power of Men

2. Cultivator of His Children

A man is also meant to cultivate his children, to provide an environment for their personal and spiritual growth. Again, he can do this only if he is saturated with the Word. Fathers should build up rather than tear down. For in

stance, you should never tell your child ren that they are stupid. Why? Those children are your seed. You need to nur ture them so they will grow and blossom. Remember, the chip comes from the old block, so the block shouldn‘t criti cize it. When your children do something wrong,

A father

should help

his children

to discover

their gifts.

you should firmly but gently correct them. A father should help his children to discover their gifts and talents. He should affirm their accomplishments and tell them what they can become in life, so they can have a positive outlook based on faith in God. Children need to be encouraged. I will talk more about this topic in the chapter, ―How to Be a Good F a ther.‖ Men have a special responsibility for cultivating their wives. Yet because they often have unrealistic ideas about women, they can end up neglecting or hurting them. Most of us men are walking around with specific pic tures in our minds of who we want our wives to be, and when they don‘t meet our expectations, we tend to blame them. At one point, God showed me that I had this attitude toward my wife, and He had to correct me. Here‘s the way a man often thinks: he is a certain type of man, so he wants a certain type of woman. He thinks such things as: ―I am a musician, so I want her to sing.‖ ―I‘m a banker, so I want her to know about finance.‖ ―I am slim, so I want her to be slim.‖ ―I want her to be smart.‖ ―I want a woman who dresses well .‖ ―I like long hair on a woman.‖ Now, there isn‘t anything wrong with desiring these things. However, I want to tell you something: the “perfect” woman you are looking for does not e xist. 3. Cultivator of His Wife

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