Sunday, June 21, 2020 was Father’s Day. Like Mother’s Day, it provides an excellent opportunity for fathers to remember important principles, reflect on personal failures, refocus on what’s good and the right, and resolve to follow after righteousness.

In this blog, I focus on five my characteristics of my heavenly father that I also experienced with my earthly father. With my dad gone, I must continue to depend on God ‘fathering’ me.  May all godly dads seek to emulate these qualities in their own families.

1. Forgiveness

The parable of the prodigal son in Luke Chapter 15 gives us a picture of what the heart of our heavenly Father is like. A wayward son, who has squandered his father’s wealth, returns home, broken and with great sadness. A long way off, his father sees, runs to him, embraces and forgives him, and restores him to his position of ‘son-ship’ in the family. What a beautiful picture of what our God does for us! This reminds me of the many times I received my father’s forgiveness and compassion when I disobeyed or misbehaved. May all fathers demonstrate this picture of forgiveness within their families.

2.  Loving  

The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5:25, that husbands should love their wives “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” This type of love is both self-sacrificing, generous, and selfless. One of the best things a father can do is to love his wife and to not be shy about letting his children know this through words and actions. This is a wonderful way to be a role model to your sons and daughters.

3. Discipline

In Hebrews Chapter 2, the Bible reminds us that God, our Heavenly Father always disciplines his children out of love. Earthly fathers must strive to do the same with their children. While Paul may not have had any biological children, he encouraged them not to provoke their children to anger but to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). While my dad did not always discipline aright, he certainly did not antagonize us to make us angry. Lord, please show dads how to correct and discipline their children with love.

4. Provider

Although there are many verses in the Bible that point to God as our provider, one of the most popular ones is found in Philippians 4:19: which states, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” In the same way that God provides for our physical, spiritual and emotional needs, fathers should do the same for their families.

Regardless of limited means, my dad made sure we had what we needed to thrive – food, clothing, shelter, and love. Being a provider is not optional for “… If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” [infidel].

5. Responsible

Fathers, especially must be responsible, accountable, and in authority. One area in which this must be evident is bearing responsibility for raising godly children. This must start with a dad’s personal commitment to God. Joshua, Moses’s successor as leader of Israel, clearly and boldly demonstrated this responsibility when he declared, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 25:15). It was quite strange to me that, while my dad made his own personal commitment to God in his seventies, he made sure that we knew and worshiped Him.

Fathers must not neglect their calling and responsibility to provide spiritual leadership in the home. Take time to lead your family in Bible reading and prayer. God, help them bear this responsibility faithfully and with commitment.

The Apostle John hailed the faith of his spiritual children when he said “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 4). May we look to our perfect heavenly Father to help fathers walk in the truth for the good of their families, and the glory of God.