Youths oppress my people, and women rule over them. My people, your leaders mislead you; they confuse the direction of your paths. ISAIAH 3:12 CSB
Godly men treat women with love and respect
Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters. 1 TIMOTHY 5:2 NLT
In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered. 1 PETER 3:7-8 NLT
… husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. EPHESIANS 5:28 ESV
Godly men who love and respect women…
Value their mother’s wisdom
A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother. PROVERBS 15:20 NIV
See the importance of a wife
Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. PROVERBS 31:10-12 NLT
Godly men work to control their sexual desires
God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, 1 THESSALONIANS 4:3-8 NLT
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 1 CORINTHIANS 6:18 NIV
I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. 1 CORINTHIANS 9:27 NLT
Godly men help raise the next generation
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. EPHESIANS 6:4 NLT
Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them. PROVERBS 13:24 NLT
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. JAMES 1:27 NLT
Godly men know they need other Godly men in their lives
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. PROVERBS 27:17 ESV
My Notes
Personal Reflection Guide
Find a quiet place that helps you to become still in your thoughts and emotions. Commit the time to God for His purposes. Go for a walk if you think this will help you become still. Take a few deep breaths. When you are ready, invite God into a conversation with you regarding this week’s message.
If you are a man, think about the challenges reflected in the sermon that you have experienced in becoming and being a godly man. What feelings and thoughts do you have about these challenges? As you reflect on the sermon, what aspect of being a godly man challenges you the most and why? Pray God will give you a vision for what He wants to do to grow you in godliness and how He wants to use you to influence the next generation to become godly men. What excites you about this vision?
Close your time by praying for the godliness of the men at Sandals church. Ask Him to show you what He wants you to do to respond to this challenge. Pray He will impress upon an action he wants you to take this week to become a more godly person or to help men grow in their godliness.
Discussion Questions
Choose a couple of the following questions from each section that best fit your group. Or, have everyone read the questions, choosing which one(s) from each section that they feel led to respond to.
- START HERE: Who are the most influential men in society today?
- START HERE: What is something you had to learn the hard way?
- START HERE: Who is a guy that invested in you and made a difference in your life?
- KEEP GOING: Read 1 Corinthians 9:27 (NLT). In what ways do you discipline your body and your mind?
- KEEP GOING: When have you taken a courageous risk for yourself, God, or others, and how did that experience change you?
- KEEP GOING: What obstacles have you overcome through hard work that you could share with your kids (or nieces/nephews) someday?
- KEEP GOING: Read 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 (NLT). What are the outcomes of unrestrained desire and passions?
- KEEP GOING: Why would God encourage us to run from sexual temptation?
- LIVE IT OUT: Godly men must invest in kids who have no role model. How are you investing in the next generation?
- LIVE IT OUT: Take a moment of real vulnerability and open a time of prayer for celebration and/or confession: Where in your life are you praising God for His grace, deliverance, or blessing? Where in your life do you need to confess to Him for forgiveness and healing? Close your prayer time asking the Holy Spirit to guide you to honor God with your body and life.