Where are the Real Men: What Girls can do to Bless the Families of the Future

by Ashley Brinley
We hear it everywhere: “Where are the real men?” This is a topic we discuss as a family often. We know that success depends upon courageous, godly men to lead out in the home, the church, and the nation. We young ladies seeking to live godly lives and prepare for godly families of our own someday are especially concerned about the lack of real men out there. I know very few young men who are Christians, and even fewer who are what I would call real men. There are many things we could blame this on, but it won’t do much good. The only thing we women can do about the problem is to start influencing the men around us in a way that is going to make a more positive impact on them than what we are doing presently. But how can we do this?

We were discussing this problem recently with friends who are also involved in ministry. We were encouraging the young men to speak out and make an effort for the other young men of this generation. Though they agreed that a huge problem exists in this area, and they are dedicated to doing what they can to help solve it, they shared with us how challenging it is to reach young men in today’s society. Young men of today don’t tend to get inspired by sermons, books, and magazines the way girls do. Hearing theory and visualizing it in action is more difficult for the male mind. Also, as a general rule, men tend to be of the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. If something isn’t ever before them, they tend to forget about it. Combine this with the cultural effort to destroy true godly manhood, which has been at work for generations, and you have a pretty discouraging outlook. But there is something that can be done, and it must be done if we are going to have any hope for the future.

You have no doubt heard the saying, “Behind every great man there is a great woman.” If this is true, we as young women may be more responsible for the lack of real men than we would like to think. But looking on the bright side, it also means that we may be the very means of bringing about the reform needed. While a young man may not be affected by a sermon, book, or magazine, he will most surely be affected in some way by the godly women in his life working and praying for him. He may be able to ignore a book or sermon, but not a sister, a mother, or a wife who is living a godly life before him every day. Girls, this is feminine strength! This is how girls can change the world. This is a call to be truly feminine, truly godly, and to use our influence and position as women to change our society. Think what an affect would be produced on the men of this generation if every girl, every woman out there lived to glorify God and serve her family. The guys would have to change! They wouldn’t feel comfortable in a society of girls who conducted themselves like godly ladies. This is the first thing we can do, and it is huge!

We can also work in direct ways, encouraging the men we know to be faithful, strong, godly leaders. We can do this by our words, and also by praising, instead of criticizing their efforts or taking over because we think we can do better than them. This is not a call to be bossy or naggy. That will only increase the problem. This is a call to work and pray in a gentle, humble, submissive way. If you, like me, do not have any brothers, don’t think that will keep you from making a difference. Those of us without brothers of our own have the responsibility of all the men out there that are our brothers in Christ. We have a lot to do, and we can have a huge impact if we only will make the effort. Men are the leaders, so if we want to end up in the right place, we will do all we can to encourage them to lead us in the right direction.

There is one more very important thing we young ladies can do to help build the families of the future. There is nothing like the power of prayer. We need to be serious about praying for the men of this generation. This is going to make more of an impact than anything else. In talking this over with a friend recently, we made the decision to set aside regular time for fasting and prayer for the men of this time and for the men God has for our futures. We invite all the young ladies who share this burden to unite with us in a day of prayer. Check here to connect with times and dates and unite with girls across the nation as we pray for God to do a work in us that will make the men of this generation into real men.