What A Guy Wants Series

[Relationships – What a Guy Wants]

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:33)

This material was originally presented in PowerPoint format to a high school student ministry. If you have questions or would like the original PowerPoint (minus the video clips, which are too large to email), drop me a note at robert.fox@alltel.com

Note: much of the concept behind this presentation came from Emerson Eggerichs’ book “Love and Respect”, though he focuses primarily on the New Testament. The tie-in to the curse in Genesis 3 is my own, but the germ of the idea came from a FamilyLife radio broadcast interview with Stu Weber, author of “Four Pillars of a Man’s heart: Bringing Strength into Balance”. Both are excellent sources of fresh insight into the scripture in this area.

[Relationships – What a Guy Wants]

Slide graphic: sign reading “Quiet – Respect Please”

Slide text:

There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: The way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden (Proverbs 30:18-1)

Valentine’s Day was this last week - a time when cupid supposedly goes around firing little love-arrows into guys and girls and relationships are perfect. Or so the story goes. Actually, even the best relationships have their bumps and bruises.

For the next few weeks, we’re going to talk about relationships. Today we’re going to talk about “What a guy wants.” We’re going to see what the Bible says guys want and why it says they want it. We’ll put the guys on the spot and see if this matches their personal experience. I know some of you ladies are completely baffled by the ways guys behave – you don’t understand how their world works. True? Hopefully, at the end of today’s lesson, some of the mystery will be cleared.

That’s the easy one. Next week, we’ll talk about what a girl wants. We’ll see what the Bible says they want and why it says they want it. I’ll be needing lots of help with that one from Tammy!

I’m taking advantage of the “valentine” season to talk about this because I think it is an extremely important subject. I remember being your age. I wasted huge amounts of time and energy trying to figure out the mysteries of how relationships work. Hopefully these two discussions will help you learn both about yourself, and about “them.” The way men and women react is truly mysterious.

There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: The way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden (Proverbs 30:18-1)

After these two lessons, we’ll continue the theme by talking about “true love.” Is that a Biblical concept? What does the Bible say love between two people is, why it exists, and how it is designed to work.

On the fourth week, we’ll talk about God’s love for us. God’s love for us is the perfect model of true love. News flash - That deep, soul-mate feeling you are looking for is only going to be found in a relationship with God. If you don’t have that, you are never going to experience love on earth.

But enough about that – today: “What a guy wants.” Girls to the left, guys to the right.

[The Male Relationship Cycle]

Slide graphic: picture of father, son, and dog in boat fishing

Slide graphic: arrows representing cycle “you respect me…” to and from “…I will serve you”, labeled in the center “Male Bonding Cycle”

Military and sports leaders know that the best way to motivate men is to believe in them more than they believe in themselves. The reason men are so easily manipulated in this way goes back to the way God created us.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Genesis 2:15)

Think about that. The Garden of Eden, before the fall when things were “perfect” was not a place where you sat around idle all day. Men were designed to work and take care of things. This commandment was given to Adam before Eve was created (v21). Men need to take care of things – they are driven to be this way by design from the perfect creation of the world.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, God cursed Satan and he cursed the earth. Contrary to popular belief, he did not curse Men and Women. He did, though, describe how their lives in the fallen earth would look like.