Real Fathers Love Jesus and Teach their Children the Word!
Kelly Durant 6-29-15 Deuteronomy 11:19
2. In English there is a phrase that appears on bumper stickers, it says, “Real Men Love Jesus”! The truth is a man that does not love Jesus is a man that will not be a good husband or father! Even the men here who come to this church, and who are Christian may be lacking in knowledge on how to be a real father. With no spirituality a man is a brute beast!
Speaking for myself, I grew up without a father, my parents divorced when I was 1 yr. old, so I grew up like many of you, and like 50% of the people in this country, without any an idea of what a father is supposed to be! If you never had a father, I understand you, but we can learn new things because it is a new day and young men can learn what a father should be like.
Women too need to learn how to choose the right men for mates who will be good fathers and they should inspire their man to love the Lord! I had to learn how to be a father from God’s word and other Christian books on the subject! I spent hours of study on the matter, and that is what it takes!
3. And I must say I have not a perfect dad for my 5 kids either! I have learned from my mistakes! But the main thing I learned, and if you remember only one thing today I want it to be this verse. It is the most important task of a father… Deu.11: 19 And ye shall teach them (the law, or God’s word) your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Having kids does not make a man a father! A real father according to God is one who knows the Bible, one who teaches those precepts to his children, and one who lives by its standards! (Repeat)
My question is, do you fathers here today do that? The Bible talks a lot about the evil character of men in the last days. Basically the sins of the past cultures are the same sins of today but the problem with that is those sins of the fathers, could be placing their souls and the souls of their children in danger of inheriting salvation.
4. There are men that think it is okay to abandon their wives & children or think it is okay to live as they so desire wasting money on sins disregarding God, being abusive to those in their homes. But as we can read that Jesus had some harsh words to those that keep kids from the faith and teaching sins to their children by their bad examples!
Matt 18:6 (read) But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
He said basically that they would go to hell forever! Jesus states here that suicide for that man or father would be better for him than to mislead a child away from God!
5. The word speaks a lot about how the men should be the spiritual leaders but a leader is not being a macho dictator slave driver that shouts out commands! We are talking about being a leader as Jesus was a leader, a man with a character imitating that of Jesus, having love for his family, wife and children, giving his life for them sacrificing his time, talent, and income.
Christ loved us and gave his life for us, and if we as men are to follow His footsteps then we must also live and obey all of what he taught and teach others the same! There is a culture problem with the world today. People are conditioned to believe that all there is to being a Dad is to bring the money home. They get home late, they watch TV, or they play sports with their friends and rarely if ever, on an intimate level, communicate with their children or wives! If men do not become spiritual such as the Israelite men, most Native Americans, and previous generations of Christians were, they are doomed to reap the consequences of criminal carnal activity.
Very few hours in the work week do men (fathers) ever spend time with their children! They don’t play much with them or talk to them, or teach them the Bible, or even discipline them for that matter! The male in today’s world has been emasculated and are as knights without armor.
6. And some children here really know how to manipulate the mother and get away with what they want while the father is off working or in another world and he does not even see how disrespectful, sneaky, and problematic his kids really are!
Children need a father involved in their lives and they need a man to discipline and control, but if they don’t get that correction early from their fathers, they will get it later from the police as they go behind bars!
A child that will not submit to a parent will certainly never submit to God! Don’t think that just because you come to church and believe in God, and think that because you are from a culture that believes in family values that it can’t happen to you! Even good fathers sometimes have to watch their kids become like the prodigal son when he demanded his share of the money and left home.
7. Never say, oh, my son is pain in the rear! Juts correct them! The word makes it clear that it is a curse to have the children dominating the parents. Is.3:12 (read) 12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
Do you realize how many young people have trouble with the law mostly because they do not have a father involved to correct and love them? Not always is it the parents fault, some children seem to be born tremendous in character, but I do know from observation and experience that children who are left to their own devices will bring their parents to shame.
Prov 29:15 (read) 15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. It says mother there but it also applies to the fathers who share the same home with the mothers! So what is a Christian father? He is a man who sets the example!
8. Do these things here on this list! A father…
1) Loves and lays down his life for his family to meet their spiritual
and physical needs, A man that is failing in being a spiritual leader is truly a failure because his children will grow up ignorant of the word, morality, and sin and will fall into the devil’s vices and traps or rapid destruction!
2) He prays with is family and intimately communicates, he is not proud but he listens to the needs of those in his care
3) He teaches his wife and his children the Word of God. To teach doesn’t mean to only pass along information; it means to teach by living as an example, and to correct with love when it is necessary
One more time we will repeat the verse we started off with, Deu. 11:19
Pray for the men to love Jesus and be real fathers!