"Gentlemen..."

Just came back from another round of visitation. So impressed by my brother-in-law, heh, he's very gentlemanly to my sis. 'Cos I've observed, for instance, when my sis struggles to put on her shoes, he gets her to sit down and he helps fit the shoes onto her feet, just like Prince Charming did with Cinderella. ;)

And I don't think he's doing it to "impress" my parents, 'cos from the way I see my sis respond to her husband, I can tell clearly that he really treats her like a princess. :) And they're not newlyweds. :)

Reason I'm writing about this is, well, because I want to learn from my bro-in-law how to be a gentleman. 'Cos Ps Jeff told the brothers in the church that the sisters want the bros to be more chivalrous, to be holy gentlemen.

I'm not writing this, with the intention to "score points" with the sisters, even though we do joke about this. On a more serious note, we have to take care of our sisters, as men of God. Fact is, a lot of the sisters in our church, no matter how godly they may be, do have this desire for intimacy, an emotional need in their hearts. And if they can't find godly men who make them feel like princesses, they'll be so much more tempted by men outside the church - especially those who treat them like princesses.

Hmm... I guess this post's also spurred by a few things that I witnessed very recently. Gives me an extra burden. =) I remember some bro joking with a sister about her being very "brotherly". Even though I think she's fine with it and doesn't mind, but I think that deeper down, she'll be really touched if we bros really treat her as a sister instead of joking about her "brotherliness" so much. That, and a few other things.

That's something I realised too... sisters can be VERY sensitive to words. We guys talk all sorts of nonsense with each other, behave like kids with one another (hey, this kind of stuff is perfectly fine for us guys - I've see our male pastors do this kind of nonsense with one another before haha), etc. etc. But the things we do with one another, we can't necessarily do with sisters. Heh. Correct me if I'm wrong here... :) it's just my personal thoughts on it. But I'm pretty sure you'll agree. ;)

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I think Jesus sets an example for us men to be a true gentleman. For starters, He's the one who is "gentle and humble in heart", and I'm listening to this song, "Mighty to Save". I wondered why I love this song so much, and I think it's because the song reminds me of a God who is so gentle, and yet mighty to save.

Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

We focus a lot on the first part, "mighty to save", but we mustn't forget the second part too. I think He's teaching us brothers how to be true gentlemen, conformed to the very likeness of a gentle and gracious God. =) And which sister wouldn't love a man who takes great delight in her, quiet her with his love and rejoice over her with singing? :)))

I'm still learning. Come join me too! :)