I am frequently terrified when I stop and think about the fact that among my children...is a girl. Being a good daddy is an awesome responsibility, but to raise a daughter is truly frightening. Now, every little girl, like every little boy, is different, so there is no universal checklist of items that we must implement to raise a daughter right. We have to get to know each of our children individually. The only way to get to know them is to spend time with them and listen to them. We should know what they think, how they think, what they enjoy, what they are sensitive about and anything else that there is to know about them. As a high school teacher, I am crushed when I hear the way that a large number of young men talk to and about girls. I am also crushed when I see the girls playing into those roles that have been assigned to them not by God or by people who love them, but by people in their lives who view them as objects to be used. Fathers, we have to teach our young men early on how to view girls, and if they deviate from that then in love and by the power vested in us by the Lord Himself we must bring them back into the right way of thinking. And, we have to raise our girls to know that they are ladies. And, God gave us a very good example in Proverbs 31:10-31, as well as other women in the Bible who trust the Lord.
Our daughters also need to know first hand from their fathers how they should be treated. If we treat them like they are less than human, then they will expect and even welcome that kind of treatment from other men in their lives. If we treat them like inconveniences that we don't have time for, then they will likely believe that they are not wanted. If we discount their feelings and thoughts, then they will likely grow to believe that they are unintelligent and worthless. If we spoil them and raise them to be undisciplined and self-centered, then that is what they will expect and they will spend their lives in disappointment and frustration. Gentlemen, pray for wisdom to raise disciplined, faithful, patient, strong, wise women. And, love each of them like only her Daddy can. And, pray for wisdom to raise our boys to be men, real men.