[Gary Petty] When my two daughters were teenagers I gave them the fatherly talk about what to be aware of in boys. But I told them that there were three traits to particularly look at when they were looking at a boy because many times they would determine what kind of man he would become. And these traits were all taken from the book of Proverbs.

I told them first of all look at how does he treat his parents? Any boy that was mean to his parents, who mistreated his parents, who was overtly disobedient and angry towards his parents was a bad sign. The book of Proverbs says, "He who mistreats his father and chases away his mother is the son who causes shame and reproach."

I told them the second thing to look for is how does he treat animals? You know if a boy kicks animals, and he's cruel to animals, if he has a pet, and he doesn't take care of that pet it shows something about the inner makeup of that boy. The book of Proverbs says, "The righteous man regards the life of his animals, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

The third thing I told them to look at was how does he treat people who he sees as weaker than he is? You know, if you see a boy who's always picking on weaker boys, who's a bully, who sees that, "You're weaker than me so I can mistreat you and hold you down," that's a bad sign.

As it says in Proverbs, "He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he who honors Him has mercy on the needy." You know these principles apply no matter what age you are.

If you're looking for a husband, look at those things no matter how attractive he is, no matter how much money he has, no matter how it looks like he's a fun guy. If he mistreats his parents and he's not kind and loving towards his parents, if he mistreats animals and he bullies people who he sees as weaker, avoid that man because that's exactly how he's going to treat you and your children.

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