Continuing through Psalm 128 and looking at the advice it has for fathers, I was lead to the second part of verse 1, "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!" A father should be Faithful is the second F of fatherhood.
Once we realize how great, powerful, and mighty God really is, we become motivated to surrender our lives to him and walk in his ways, being faithful.
As a husband and father, we are to set an example of a godly pattern of life in our households. According to God's plan, we are the picture of God in our homes. And in order for us to do that, we must have a personal relationship with our Almighty God ourselves. Our children must see us worshipping, praising God, going to church, and studying his Word. They will also watch how we treat our wife, their mother, so we must be a godly husband as well. You can't just do this at certain times, to walk in his ways require a daily discipline. Yes, it's good to show up at the recitals and ball banquets, but our children need us setting that faithful example every day.
Men, we are to be the head of the household. But being the leader, does not mean you are the boss. 1 Corinthians 11:3 reads, "But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God." John MacArthur notes, "Men have authority over women in the basic order of creation." This plan goes all the way back to Genesis and does not imply a lack of equality or inferiority between men and women. He adds, "Christ has never been in any way inferior in essence to the Father, but in his incarnation he willingly submitted himself to the Father's will in humble obedience." So there you have the order set forth by the Lord: God - Jesus - Man - Woman, all equally important.
Based on what we just read, that places more emphasis on the fact that we as men are the spiritual leaders in our homes. That's not to say that our wives and children have no responsibility in this area, but the primary role of leader in the home is on us. So ask yourself, is my walk faithful enough to God's plan that when my children see me they see an example of Jesus? If you're not a father, ask yourself as a Christian, am I walking in his ways in such a manner that people around me know I'm a Christian? That question needs to be pondered seriously as we evaluate ourselves.
So guys, just how important is it that we set a faithful example for our children? Well, let's look at the statistics below that I found online of the percentage of children who stay in church based on certain home situations:
- Both mother and father in church, 72% attend church
- Only father attends church, 55% attend church
- Only mother attends church, 15% attend church
If that doesn't let you see the impact fathers have on the spiritual lives of our children then I don't know what will. So dads, we are leading our families, the question is, are we leading them toward God or away from God?
Once we realize how great, powerful, and mighty God really is, we become motivated to surrender our lives to him and walk in his ways, being faithful.
As a husband and father, we are to set an example of a godly pattern of life in our households. According to God's plan, we are the picture of God in our homes. And in order for us to do that, we must have a personal relationship with our Almighty God ourselves. Our children must see us worshipping, praising God, going to church, and studying his Word. They will also watch how we treat our wife, their mother, so we must be a godly husband as well. You can't just do this at certain times, to walk in his ways require a daily discipline. Yes, it's good to show up at the recitals and ball banquets, but our children need us setting that faithful example every day.
Men, we are to be the head of the household. But being the leader, does not mean you are the boss. 1 Corinthians 11:3 reads, "But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God." John MacArthur notes, "Men have authority over women in the basic order of creation." This plan goes all the way back to Genesis and does not imply a lack of equality or inferiority between men and women. He adds, "Christ has never been in any way inferior in essence to the Father, but in his incarnation he willingly submitted himself to the Father's will in humble obedience." So there you have the order set forth by the Lord: God - Jesus - Man - Woman, all equally important.
Based on what we just read, that places more emphasis on the fact that we as men are the spiritual leaders in our homes. That's not to say that our wives and children have no responsibility in this area, but the primary role of leader in the home is on us. So ask yourself, is my walk faithful enough to God's plan that when my children see me they see an example of Jesus? If you're not a father, ask yourself as a Christian, am I walking in his ways in such a manner that people around me know I'm a Christian? That question needs to be pondered seriously as we evaluate ourselves.
So guys, just how important is it that we set a faithful example for our children? Well, let's look at the statistics below that I found online of the percentage of children who stay in church based on certain home situations:
- Both mother and father in church, 72% attend church
- Only father attends church, 55% attend church
- Only mother attends church, 15% attend church
If that doesn't let you see the impact fathers have on the spiritual lives of our children then I don't know what will. So dads, we are leading our families, the question is, are we leading them toward God or away from God?
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