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Key Bible Verse: Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity (1 Timothy 4:12). Bonus Reading: Titus 2:6-8

When I was a pastor in Hawaii, my little congregation was near Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station. I always had a large supply of muscular recruits, the young, mostly single marines had great hearts but not much tact. When out of uniform and away from their sergeant, they just stood around waiting for someone to tell them what to do next.

At one of our Sunday school complaint sessions, several women teachers described their discipline problems with the young boys. They couldn't control them for the hour-long Bible lesson. They had tried everything and were ready to quit.

I had a flash of insight. I grabbed a couple of marines and told them to go into those rooms the next Sunday, pile a couple of boys under each arm, "rough them up, and sit on them." To the women, that strategy bordered on child abuse, but the boys viewed it as affection! Our discipline problems were solved by placing one marine per room with the order to pile his lap full of boys and then hold them while the teacher taught the lesson. In one Sunday I came to realize every pastor needs a "few good men"!

—Robert Hicks in Uneasy Manhood

• What characteristics do young men look up to? How can you begin to model them?

Thought to Apply: The first great gift we can bestow on others is a good example.

—THOMAS MORELL (writer)

Credits: Adapted from—Wednesday: Uneasy Manhood (Nelson, 1991)

Copyright © 2000 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity. For reprint information click here.

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