Portrait Of A Godly Father

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right; honor your father and mother (it is the first command with a promise), that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth. As for you fathers, never exasperate your children, but bring them up in the discipline and on the admonitions of the Lord.”

(Ephesians 6:1-4 – Moffatt translation)

“Wives, be subject to your husbands; that is your proper duty in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, never be harsh to them. Children, obey your parents at every point, for this pleases the Lord right well. Fathers, avoid irritating your children, lest they become dispirited.”

(Colossians 3:18-21 – Moffatt translation)

Introduction…

Many people talk about what they call the “war on women.” I’m not quite sure what they mean by that, but I believe that there is a war and I would define it today as a “war on fathers.”

Nobody talks about the father’s rights; nobody stands up and talks about the importance of fatherhood because it is not an effective political “talking point.” After all, if it cannot get you elected to some office what good is it anyway?

There are studies to show that fathers are an important ingredient in the family today. I do not need to talk about those statistics; I think you know where I am coming from. A growing number of families are what is called “single-parent” families.

This is not good and even the secular psychologists warn that this is not a good environment for children to grow up in.

Young boys, in particular, are greatly affected by not having the proper father figure in their life when they grow up. Much of the crime in the inner cities is a result of this.

Throughout our culture today, there is an undermining of the family. From television to movies to music to electronic games and so forth, we see this phenomenon in our culture today.

There is only one purpose behind all of this, compromising the purpose of God for the family.

As Christians, we need to stand against this movement of the culture. However, we are finding the same statistics in the Christian church as we find out in the secular world. As Christians, we need to help redefine what the family is all about from God’s perspective.

There is a lot that we could say along this line, but today I want to focus on the father. And I want to talk about the portrait of a godly father. Nothing that I will say today has any bearing on an unsaved father. I want to focus on the godly father that is absolutely needed in the Christian home today.

Theme…A godly father lays a firm foundation for the next generation to build upon.

What this generation has today is a result of yesterday’s fathers. More importantly, it is a result of the secularization of the church, which has affected the role of the father in the home. Because of this, the church is losing its influence in the culture.

It is important that Christian fathers stand up and be everything that God desires them to be because the health of the next generation is in their hands.

Let me lay out the portrait of a godly father for us to consider today. Hopefully, this will encourage us to pray for fathers and for us fathers to work more diligently to become everything God wants us to be so we can influence the next generation spiritually speaking.

You will notice that these three qualities are firmly rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not take our cues from the world around us, but from the Lord Jesus Christ within us.

I. Prophet.

Throughout both the old and the new Testaments, we hear much about the role of the prophets. Without these prophets from the past, we would not have Christianity today.

The prophets were the watchers and warned the people of danger and how to avoid it. (A spiritual guard, gatekeeper).

Basic to the work of the prophet was “thus saith the Lord.” They did not originate their message, but rather communicated to the people the message of God. They were rooted and grounded in the word of the Lord and God’s people were blessed when they listened to those prophets.

Now, why am I bringing all of this to bear upon the godly father? What do the prophets have to do with being a godly father?

Very simply, the basic obligation of the godly father is to speak forth the word of God to his family. The foundation of his family must be the word of God.

Sports and entertainment and recreation are wonderful, but they can never replace the importance of God’s word.