Being a father is not easy
Journey of learning, loving, joy, blessing
I remember when my first child and my second child were born, I wanted to raise them right and try to be a good Godly father.
The trouble was I grew up outside the church and didn’t have a Godly father example to follow.
I remember praying and asking the Lord to teach me, train me, help me and empower me to be good dad. I couldn’t look at my past for help but I could look up and ask God to be my present example moving forward.
God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:5 “.... for I have made you a father of many nations.”
Abraham was made a father and this father desire within me would require me to look into the Bible to find God’s divine plan for fatherhood. If I could discover His plan I could then work on me to become more like what He would want me to be.
So here was my $64 question? What is our Father which art in Heaven like? The first thing that came to my mind was God is love.
1John 4:8 “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
The Holy Father has a true loving nature for all of His children. No matter what wrongs any one of us have done, He continues to love us.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
This taught me that I needed to have a great supply of love if I was going to become a good father. Yes, love will need to be a key ingredient but what else did I need to add to love to balance my character?
Another part of God our Father is justice. He is always correct and can correctly judge us when we do right or wrong.
Love without justice leads to looseness where we feel no need for rules. On the other hand, justice without love leads to legalism where there is great penance for minor infractions.
It’s in this realm between love and justice that we discover the need for us to apply His amazing grace. Grace means I could punish you harshly but I accept the fact that no one is perfect so I’ll give you another chance to do better.
God’s grace causes me to embrace His wonderful mercy and forgiveness when I make a mistake and I will need to give the same thing to my children.
If I was going to be a good Godly dad, I had a lot of work to do. Looking back, my wife and I have been blessed to have raised two wonderful daughters and now we have five beautiful grandchildren.
These days I pray a new prayer, “Lord thank you for Your past help but now I need help to become a good Godly grandfather.”
Like my first prayer it’s been a journey of learning, loving, joy and blessing.
This Father’s Day could you use a little help to improve your fathering skills?
The Bible is still the best guide to follow, the local church is still open and it’s never too late to begin.
I pray for all the dads to have a wonderful day this Father’s Day. God bless you all.
APOLOGY: In my last column on June 2, I identified the racial background of one man who had reached out to God but I failed to identify the racial background of a second man who reached out to God. I apologize to anyone who was offended by this.