Hi Friend! Looking for some great role models for your boys to follow. Let’s look at 4 Male Bible Characters and extract a few positive characteristics from their lives. These traits can be used to assist our male children in their walk with God. I must add that in this post the focus is not the negative aspects of these Bible Characters’ lives. I hold to the fact that these role models were not perfect, there are, however, vital lessons we can take away from their lives. The goal is to use the positive characteristics to assist in propelling our male heritage in their relationship with the Heavenly Father.
Hi Friend!
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Let’s play a little game of GUESS WHO
So here is the first letter for each of the bible characters highlighted in this post.
Can you guess who they are before you move through the rest of this post?
S
J
D
J
scroll down to see how well you did!
If you got it all correct add a comment below that says “I got em”
4 Bible Character Role Models For Boys - My Top Picks
Let’s look at these 4 bible characters briefly and highlight just a few of the greatest lessons we can teach our boys from their lives. As adults, we too can glean from their tenacity and life of service. There’s a wealth of lessons we can learn, but as I mentioned we’ll look at just a few for each Bible Character. Do mention in the comments below other amazing life lessons you notice about these 4 characters that are not mentioned in this post. Also, I choose my top four Bible Characters, but we know there are lots of others we can learn from. If you have a different “Top 4” do mention it below.
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Bible Character #1 Samuel
Here is a great example of the importance of praying for your children and dedicating them to the Lord. Samuel was prayed for even before He was born. The promise made by Hannah, his mom was kept and God used Him in a mighty way. Certainly not an easy decision for any mom. Thanks to her faithfulness we have this wonderful example today. God called Samuel, and with Eli’s help, Samuel answered and kept answering. Samuel is a great example that children are not too small to hear God’s voice, obey, and in addition not too young to serve the Lord.
So here are just a few things from Samuels’ life that could inspire your male heritage and encourage you as a parent to trust God with your boy child’s life.
a. Service – Samuel serve God from childhood
Samuel learned firsthand about service to God from Eli, the High Priest. As a boy, Samuel helped Eli in his priestly duties. I am sure that Eli was very fond of this help. We see how much was required when we read all of the duties and rituals in the book of Leviticus. As Samuel assisted Eli, he got practical experience about service and reverence to God. He learned that serving God is the most important thing a person can do in this life. And that is what He did.
We do not have high priests today, however, Godly fathers have been given the role of “Priest of the Home”. As a believing Father, pray that God would use you as the high priest to set the best example of Godly living for your son. If you are a single mom, seek God for a God-fearing, trustworthy, example of someone who can assist you by giving advice and godly counsel to your son.
B. Listening –
Samuel Learnt how to Hear and Listen To God’s Voice
When God first spoke to Samuel he was a little boy. He was confident that Eli kept calling him. His mentor realized what was happening and told the young lad how to respond. Samuel was then able to respond the right way “Speak Lord your servant hears” 1 Samuel 3:10. God began to speak because Samuel simply listened.
Teaching children to hear from God is a fundamental part of building their relationship with Christ. It’s not something we often focus on. We teach them to say the right things at the right times and to respond with words. But there are times the response that God requires is listening. As you teach your child about prayer, do spend time during those very moments to teach them to listen. We see from this bible character the importance of hearing and listening to God’s voice.
C. Obedience – Obeying God’s Commands
One of my mentors recently helped me to understand more deeply the absolute importance of “first-time obedience”. Not delayed obedience, but obedience from the very first instruction. Samuel surely wasn’t perfect, however, we see throughout his life he practiced living a life of obedience to God. His obedience encouraged those around Him to respect him and honor his relationship with God. Along with that, the children of Israel reverence God more.
Teaching our children to walk in obedience is critical to their spiritual growth and Christian life. As parents, it is our expectation that children obey our every word. And oh how we love them to listen right away. Well, Our Heavenly Father expects us to obey His every word right away as well and teach our children to do the same. Because Samuel was obedient He was able to encourage others to live in obedience to God. That’s an awesome trait!
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D. God’s Guidance – Samuel Sought God’s Guidance
As Samuel grew older he became a priest and prophet to the children of Israel. He had many hard decisions to make in representing the people. It was important for Samuel to seek the Lord’s guidance in every situation. God gave Him the right answer every time and the people respected him and sought his counsel when necessary.
As parents, we can use this example to help our boys seek God’s guidance. Often times when there are major decisions to make concerning our children we seek God and encourage them to do the same. This should become a habit not just for big decisions but also for the simpler things, everyday circumstances that would come their way. As your young males learn to trust God in simple things, it would build their faith for greater things.
Bible Character #2 David
Fondly called the shepherd boy, David the youngest of 8 sons, took care of his father’s sheep. This son of Jesse was also known for playing the harp skillfully. He was anointed by Samuel to serve as the next King of Israel as a youth. Samuel didn’t really disclose to the family why he anointed David, but for sure Samuel’s visit would have had the town talking. Furthermore, David’s parents would have realized that something special was going on in their son’s life.
Here are some lessons we can learn from this role model ‘little David and big David’.
a. Worship – David Loved To Worship God
One of the things worship brings is God’s presence. It was God’s presence in David’s life that drove out tormenting Spirits that bothered King Saul as he played the harp. It was not just playing for Him obviously, it was worship. This Bible character David had a beautiful understanding that worshipping God was central to his life. When David sang and played, he was playing only for God. Others may have been listening, others may have been encouraged, others may have been delivered, but God was glorified.
How important a lesson: Can you imagine what would happen when we nurture our young men in a way that they understand that everything that they do is for God’s glory. When it comes to worshipping, singing, dancing do it to glorify God. Start from as early as possible teach them to filter out music that does not bring glory to God. And make it known to your young male heritage what worship involves and who it belongs to, so others can be blessed by their life and testimony just as with David.
B. Fearlessness – David feared nothing but God
Who is that Giant? I’ll fight him! He is certainly not stronger than the God who gives me the strength to protect my sheep from bears and predators. In today’s world, onlookers may grab their phones to capture the moment and it would spread like wildfire on social media. But David captured the essence of God’s ability to do anything and this made him fearless. David trusted God and he understood that God Almighty is the God of everything. In dark, moonlit pastures and sun-filled green valleys, David learns to be brave. He learned to depend on God for protection and as a result, he became the greatest, bravest warrior in the Bible.
In life, our male children will go through different situations. Some may be “giant”. Fearlessly facing them with God’s help is a great lesson we can teach from this role model. Others may even look down on them, but let every circumstance become an opportunity to teach them to trust God and depend on Him and be fearless because God is always with them. Emphasize that it was God that gave David the victory and God can do the same for them. As your male child learns to trusts God with different challenges he will become an overcomer of any situation with God’s help.
C. Love For God – David loved God
This bible characters’ love for God was so abundant that God called Him a man after His heart, 1 Samuel 13:14. Wow, how would you want God to describe your son? It was David’s love for God that helped him to pen such beautiful Psalms that we sing today. It was David’s love for God that proved his respect for God’s appointed leader Saul even when others thought David was wasting time respecting Saul. It was David’s love for God that assisted him in being the Father that God wanted Him to be to his son Solomon. David knew the Heavenly Father’s Love.
How can this help your male heritage? Firstly, they need to know that the love of the Heavenly Father exceeds even the love that we can offer to them as a parent. More importantly, God wants them to love Him back. Encourage children as boys to express their love for God. Make use of David’s example to help them write simple songs about their love for God. Encourage them in other ways to show their love for God, and include respect for authority so they can be blessed.
BIBLE CHARACTER #3 - Joseph
This bible character was the 11th son of Jacob and the first son of Rachel. Joseph loved his father and his father loved him. A whole lot of love, so much that there was a recognizable difference. Along with that love, he received special dreams about himself that caused great jealousy among his other brothers. Eventually his brothers had the opportunity to do something about it. They captured him and sold him to merchants and deceived their father Jacob. They really thought it was over and never knew that God was setting Joseph up for greatness. The Bible said that God was with Joseph and gave him favor in everything he did. Genesis 39:2 So what can our young males learn from Joseph?
A. Confidence – He recognized He was special and blessed
The love of his father must have helped Joseph to realize he was special. Moreover, Joseph’s special dreams spoke to him and he knew he was different. Joseph loved and trusted his brothers and father so he told them his dream. What if he had kept quiet? There was no need to because he was confident of what was revealed to him, not one time but twice. His confidence made him excited to share. And if he could I am sure he would have shared it with everyone he met.
How can this help our young boys? We can help our boys to know that they are very special and very blessed. They may not always behave the way we want and not to mention if they have siblings there will be disagreement. However, letting them know plays a valuable role in their self-worth. Parents sometimes neglect this need to show love and affection for boys since we want them to be tough. Jacob showed his love. He also pondered on Joseph’s dreams even though he may have thought them absurd. What dreams have your heritage spoken to you concerning? How do you counsel and guide your young males based on these desires? Use Joseph’s example to propel your child closer to their God-given dreams.
B. Visionary – Joseph Had A Vision for life
The bible mentions that Joseph had dreams of himself Genesis 37. He saw himself as a leader. It made him excited to imagine what his future would be like. Feelings of others did not deter him from seeing himself in the role he envisioned. While his brothers did not understand or expect it to happen Joseph kept the vision. Though Jacob rebuked Joseph, he pondered on those dreams in his heart. Joseph kept the vision.
I have noticed my son loves everything related to science he talks about it and loves to watch science experiments and science documentaries at 5 years old. Sometimes I am a bit concerned that he chases the storm, with the storm chasers as he looks out the window. But the truth is I don’t know what God is developing inside of Him. While I have a desire to see him grow and succeed, God has already mapped out His entire life. So what we do? As parents, we can trust God to lead our children to their destiny. Do ask the Lord to give your male heritage a vision for his life. As Jacob did, when they share that God-given vision ponder and pray that God will lead them His way.
c. Loyalty – Joseph was Loyal to God through all situations
What a journey to those dreams that Joseph had, a roller coaster of good and bad. Through it all, he remained steadfast and loyal to God. Jacob had obviously done an excellent job in laying the foundation of Joseph’s life. One of trust and relationship with God. As a result of this good foundation, Joseph was able to choose righteousness over sin and trust God in difficult situations.
Strive to lay a good foundation for your male children. This foundation does not make them perfect, but it cements the building blocks to their future relationship with God. As parents teaching, mentoring, and praying for our young males is critical. Directing them in the things of God and encouraging them to love God wholeheartedly, is a serious matter. This will help them make the right choices and keep them from error as they grow older. Joseph was away from his father and family in a strange land. However, because of his upbringing, he was able to remain loyal to God. And for this God blessed Joseph and made him great.
BIBLE CHARACTER #4 Jesus
Give me a J_E_S_U_S! The promised one, the Saviour of the universe. During His adult life on earth, He taught those around Him what the Kingdom of God is like. Jesus’ mission; to reconcile us back to the Heavenly Father through His death on the cross and resurrection. Jesus loves, helps, heals, teaches, trains and the list goes on. There is a multitude of lessons our boys can learn from this, the greatest Bible Character, but I just choose three.
a. Prayer – communication with God
Jesus, God the son spent time in prayer, communicating with the father. He also taught others how to pray. As part of their preparation for service, Jesus gave his disciples what we know as the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13. He also highlighted how they should and should not pray. I believe Jesus’ life of prayer was to set the tone for all his followers to know how vital communication with the Heavenly Father is. Also to stress our need to depend on our Heavenly Father. Jesus often set aside time to pray and encouraged the disciples to do the same. Why did Jesus pray? For God’s guidance to accomplish God’s purpose for His life.
What does this tell us as parents? Prayer should be a priority for our boys too. God has a plan for the life of your young male heritage. Teaching them to communicate with God for help and guidance is crucial for them to fulfill this plan to completion. Pray with them, pray for them and teach them to pray. Pray for themselves and pray for others. Just as Jesus did.
b. Servant leadership
Throughout His adult life, Jesus continually spoke of serving others. While many would rush to serve him for various reasons He said, I have not come to be served but to serve Mark 10:45. His disciples were in for an unexpected “treat”. It was the Passover Feast and Jesus was about to have the final meal with His disciples before His death. The custom of the day, foot washing of guests was about to be done by who? … The servant-leader Jesus of course. “What?” one disciple responded, “wash my feet?” Why? Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that even though others knew and saw His greatness it did not affect His humility. He also encouraged them to do the same for others as they serve.
What can we teach our young men about this? Don’t despise humility, embrace it and remain humble in spite of how popular you may become. How can humility be accomplished? Jot down some ways that you can encourage your young heritage to be humble. One way Jesus showed us is by humbly serving others. What an amazing example to follow!
c. Forgiveness
While many loved Jesus, others loathed the fact that He was the Messiah. They hated Jesus because of His love and compassion for sinners. Yep! The world does not understand forgiveness and prefers to resort to revenge. Jesus however, encourages us to forgive. It is so necessary that He instructed his disciples to forgive, seventy times seven Matthew 18: 21-22. Feel free to do the math, but I don’t know if anyone can offend you so much.
The point is that we must teach our male children to forgive others as many times as someone does wrong to them. Life would be so different if more persons would understand the value of forgiveness. It’s the main reason why Jesus came to earth to pay for our forgiveness. Truth be told God cannot forgive us when we are unable to forgive others. Help your heritage to understand this principle. Practice it at home. And emphasize that forgiveness is not a form of weakness as some may believe.
So these are my top four Bible characters that I think are wonderful role models for our boys to learn from. Don’t forget if you have a different top 4, do mention it in the comments below, along with other characteristics from these 4 that are not mentioned.
If you are reading this post and you have not asked the Lord to be your Saviour and friend and you would love to make that decision in order to know and love God. Feel free to email me for more information at momandministry1@gmail.com. The best way to lead our heritage in the way that God wants them to grow is by first following Jesus ourselves.
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Do continue to stay safe and blessed. And as always thank you for reading this post.
I love this and how you broke down each character! I have a little boy and it’s so important for me to give him examples of men who honor God. Like you said, these men were not perfect but they each displayed characteristics that out boys can look to for good examples. Excellent post!
Thanks you Kheyla. Indeed! God bless you and your son as you seek to help him grow in his walk with the Lord.
Yana – Excellent Piece! Simple and adaptable for all age groups.
My first 4 character choices with great life lessons.
Indeed! Thank you sis.Faithful Pet.
I got three of em!