I credit my mom for teaching me a few raw and real-life lessons about the mind of a man.

Mom is a godly woman who raised us using biblical principles. She is no-nonsense and tells it like it is. There’s no wondering what she means.

Early on, I learned the importance of how to talk, dress, and behave around boys and grown men. As a teen, I admit the rules seemed strict. However, now as a mother, I realize the wisdom she was speaking over us.

Over the last few months as I am studying the Old Testament, I am struck by how many of the giants of the Bible were powerful….until it came to women.

All of a sudden, they lost all willpower.

💪Samson- the strongest man who ever lived: He loved a woman named Delilah and she enticed him. She begged him for the secret of his great strength.

He refused to give it away until one day, “She pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death.” Judges 16:16.

Samson gave away the secret and it eventually led to his death.

Proverbs 5:3-4 says it well, “For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword.”

👑David – a man after God’s own heart: He should have been leading his army on the field, but stayed home and was distracted by a woman named Bathsheba.

Powerful, royal, wealthy, talented…but weakened by a woman.

David commits adultery, has Bathsheba’s husband killed, and she finds out she’s pregnant. The consequences are devastating. The baby dies and drama ensues with David’s descendants, including incest, murder, and treason.

Proverbs 6:32 “But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself.”

What I love about David’s story is the beauty of God’s forgiveness. David realizes his sin once he is confronted and repents. Though he must still suffer the consequences, God forgives this incredible sin.

🤴Solomon – the wisest man who ever lived: 700 wives and 300 concubines. Must I say more?

1 Kings 11:3 “And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.”

His wives turned away his heart. Wise…but weak.

His consequence: The kingdom was torn away from him and was given to Solomon’s servant.

Solomon’s warning found in Ecclesiastes 7:26, “I found that some women are worse than death and are as dangerous as traps. Their love is like a net, and their arms hold men like chains. A man who pleases God will be saved from them, but a sinner will be caught by them.”

🏃Joseph – his jealous brothers throw him into a pit, but he later ends up serving in a palace with Potiphar’s wife. Well-built and handsome, he is noticed by the wife.

”One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” Genesis 39:11-12

Well-built, handsome….but strong.

He ran.

Could his weakness have overtaken him? Yes, and he knew it…so he ran.

Proverbs 5:8 warns us about the immoral woman, “Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house!”

🙋‍♂️🙋🏻‍♀️There is such incredible beauty in the way men and women were created, and God has a special purpose for each of us.

God has given us these examples in His Word to help us in our walk. I encourage Mamas to share this with the young men they are raising. Our boys will come across that woman. We want to raise men to stay strong.

I pray that, as men and women, we honor and respect one another in our words and actions…and remain strong.

~Elizabeth/Betsy