Faith & Insight: Authentic fathering

How many of us are familiar with the phrase “Wait until your father gets home.” Fathering is much more than being the disciplinarian hand in a child’s upbringing. Even those that aren’t familiar with the Bible know the proverb “spare the rod spoil the child,” which will have the fast forward outcome of “spare the rod spoil the father.”

Praise the Lord for the dads out there who take their God-ordained roles and responsibilities seriously. It’s an awesome display of character to live a life of good fathering and stewardship.

Father’s Day is a great reminder of the importance of our role. Be encouraged the labor of love now is worth the results of it later, so remain faithful and authentic.

Dads, keep praying, keep seeking God, keep loving and leading your family well, and keep “fighting the good fight of the faith!” (1 Tim 6:12-16)

Know this well, parents, adults, Christians: How we live our life of faith, as well as, our life of care is seen, learned and repeated in the next generation.

Your relationship with God matters more than you think it does because your life impacts more than just you. The best thing you could do for yourself and your family is to seek God and worship him above all else. When you’re weak, rely on the grace of God. He who has called you is faithful to you, in you, and through you. Teach your children about the beauty, the love and the salvation of Christ; with your words and your actions, with your care and your provision.

Consider this: God allows us the privilege of sharing one of his special and influential names — father. This means we can and will impact the way our kids see God as their Heavenly Father. That’s huge! Dad — Family Shepherd, Servant-Leader.

“A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.” (Reverend Billy Graham)

“What we teach our children they will teach their children.”

“It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.”

There was a cartoon on social media that showed a father and son (stick figures) walking down the street holding hands, with a dialogue taking place. The caption was, “Fathering Gives You Super-powers.”

The dialogue was: “Dad, you know how you’re really super strong?”

The dad replied: “What about it?”

To which the son said, “How do you hold my hand without crushing it?”

The dad replied, “With love, it’s a power that is even stronger than muscles.”

The son replied, “WHOA!”

A dad once heard his child praying, “Dear Lord, when I grow up make me just like my dad.” That night the dad prayed, “Dear Lord, make me the kind of dad my child sees, and needs me to be.”

Authentic fathering starts with a real relationship with Jesus Christ. We gain our example of fathering from the heart of our Heavenly Father in his word, the Bible, (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth). For God so loved…

Happy Father’s Day. Be encouraged, the outcome is worth the labor of love!

Pat Propster is pastor of Calvary Chapel Carson City.