Research shows only three out of 10 of the dads in America are functioning to serve their family according to how the Bible teaches.
Because one of these is you (or the man in your life), I am committed to encouraging and strengthening this role. And together, we must increase this percentage as we teach dysfunctional men how to lead their family.
For the challenges we face in today’s culture, we must work to develop strong, healthy dads. So the challenge today is this.
WILL YOU KEEP STEPPING UP TO SERVE YOUR FAMILY?
God’s power in us is and will help us rise to the challenge of being a strong leader in our home. Listen, if it was up to me, I couldn’t do all that is required of a dad. But through God’s power you and I can be an example and truly serve both of our wives and our children. I learned that my job as a father is not to be a dictator but to be a servant. The Bible teaches that a father who serves his family has three roles. Dad, you are a priest, a prophet, and a king of your home.
Learn more about what every father goes through.
DAD AS PRIEST OF HIS HOME
A priest in today’s culture could be many things but in the days the Bible was written, a priest’s job was to bring the Word of God to the people. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” In this scripture, God is talking to the priests of the land. Our job is to bring the knowledge of the Word of God to our children. We are supposed to tell our children of the works of God – His miracles, His gifts, what He likes, and what He doesn’t like.
How are we going to do that? When I first started, my children didn’t want to hear about the Bible at all. It was just a boring book with no pictures! That’s when I got a hold of Bible story book. I would read to them how David defeated Goliath, how Daniel survived the lion’s den and many other stories that show how real people believed God in extraordinary circumstances. I’d tell those stories each night at bedtime but I would always leave a cliff hanger at the end making them want to hear more the next night. As they got older, I wrote scriptures down on 3X5 cards and gave the card to them as they went to school. Eventually, they started to be interested in learning the Word of God.
Learn more about how to develop a family mission statement.
DAD AS PROPHET OF HIS HOME
In the old testament, the prophet’s job was to speak the words of God to the people of God. The most important words to speak to our children is to tell them what God says about them. It’s our job to tell them that they are accepted by God as it says in Ephesians 1:6., that God has a plan for them as it says in Jeremiah 29:11. But more than that, God will tell you things that you need to know about your children.
One afternoon I was praying while mowing the grass on a normal day. All of a sudden, I had a thought. It was about my children and something they were doing and shouldn’t have been doing. So I walked upstairs and asked them about it. You should have seen their eyes. They were as big as saucers. They owned up to the sin and told the truth. Afterward, I realized that it was God who had alerted me to the issue. Now that does happen very often but it is vital when it does. My job as a parent is to speak the Word of God over my children and to listen to what God is saying to me about my children.
https://vimeo.com/159798584
DAD AS KING OF HIS HOME
Now, dads, it is important that you understand this word, king. God does not call us to be a tyrant or to be domineering over our home. God calls us to be a servant. Ephesians 5:23 says the husband is the head of the wife. That scripture has been abused over the years. My job as a dad is not to be the head dictator of the home but the head servant of the home. As a king, my job is to use my time, my money, and my effort to help my children become all God has called them to be.
One of my daughters brought me her report card one afternoon. I looked down and there it was right next to the subject Algebra, a big capital F. I may have been upset but I realized that I was part of the problem. I had not helped her. Now, I didn’t like Algebra either but instead of getting angry, I just smiled and told her that we would be spending a lot of time together. I was going to be spending my time making sure she was doing her homework, spending my money getting her a tutor, and spending my effort learning it myself so I could help too. She passed that summer, but it took me getting involved with my resources like a good king should.
Learn more about how to be the man God called you to be.
Being a good dad is a rare thing. It’s rare because it’s not easy. As a Christian, we can trust in God to teach us how to be a good father to our children.
DADS UNLIMITED PACK
As dads, how do we know what to do or if we’re doing it right? The products in this pack cover what God has called us to as men, husbands, and fathers.
