Raising Sons to Fight Giantsنموونە

Work is not a result of the fall of Adam, but work goes the difficult way it does because of the fall. Prior to the advent of sin in the world, Adam was given the task of tending the garden and naming the animals. We were created for work. But when sin entered, God in His wisdom saw that thorns and thistles were now needed (Gen. 3:17–19). In His grace, God cursed the ground. Just as the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, so is the sweat of the brow. Sinners don’t do well living on the Big Rock Candy Mountain.

And so this is why boys need to be taught and disciplined in physical labor. Of course it is not an end in itself—the point should always be grace—but in the hands of wise parents, hard physical work is an important part of a boy’s discipleship. He needs to know what it is like to be exhausted, to have calluses on his hands, and to work when his body does not really want to anymore. He needs this; God said so. He is a son of Adam.

In dealing with all these issues, a boy learns to distinguish between the ever-popular notions of self-esteem, and the biblical concept of self-respect. Self-esteem is found in Galatians 6:3. “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” A boy lounging on a soft couch can fancy himself quite the working man.

But self-respect is found in the next verse. “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden” (vv. 4–5). Work should not just be done, it should be proven, tested. And when it is, a boy learns the deep and godly satisfaction that comes from a job well done.