Introduction
Today is Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day to all you dads. I wonder if you truly realize the influence that you have on your family as a whole but in particularly to the children that call you “daddy.”
I am going to make a statement that might surprise you dads, but I am going to back it up by Scripture. Here goes: Every child wants a F.A.T. daddy, and if granddaddy is raising a child that child wants a F.A.T. granddaddy.
I said that I was going to back this up with Scripture, so let’s turn to Deuteronomy 6: 1-9 and read the Scripture and I will explain what I mean by a F.A.T. daddy.
Scripture
Deuteronomy 6:1–9 NKJV
1 “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
From the Scripture I just read, you might have gathered when I am talking about a F.A.T. daddy, I am not referring to a dad who is round in the belly area, but a daddy with some spiritual substance to him.
Point 1
The “F” in F.A.T. daddy stands for faithfulness. It takes faithfulness to pass from God what He has given you to your children, and to be sure your children pass it on to their children.
Deuteronomy 6:4–7 (NKJV)
4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children...
Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States once said: “It is better to be faithful than famous.” I think that he was on to something. I would say it this way: “It is better to be faithful to God, then your spouse and your children than anything else in this world.”
As men we do not have trouble being faithful where our problem comes in is picking to what we are faithful. We have a bad picker to what we are faithful to.
Men, you are wrong if you are more faithful to your job than you are to your God and your family.
Men, you are wrong if you are more faithful to your favorite sports team than you are to God and your family.
Men, you are wrong if you are more faithful to that season called “deer hunting season” than you are to God and your family.
In Deuteronomy 6, God lays out in very simple terms what you and I as men are to be faithful to. First above all, we must be faithful to our God. “Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” And secondly, we are to be faithful to our family. “You shall teach them diligently to your children.” If you can do that, then you will live in a stable home.
Be faithful to anything else and I can point to your home as an unstable home.
And before I leave the subject of “faithful” let me tell you when it comes to your children, you need to be faithful to your word. Jesus said in His famous Sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:37 (NKJV)
37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ And that is especially true when it comes to your children. As a dad, promise your child something and do not deliver, and I can tell you that you broke that child’s spirit.
Daddys be faithful to your children.
“F” is for faithful. Are you faithful to the right things?
Point #2
The “A” in F.A.T. daddy stands for attentive to your children. It takes attentiveness by daddy to give your child a firm foundation on which to build his or her life.
Deuteronomy 6:7 NKJV
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
This week as I was writing this sermon, I got the opportunity to reminisce about growing up in my family’s home. And you need to remember, my family was Jewish, and my home was a Jewish style home. And I have to tell you, I remember my daddy spending more time with me and my brothers than our momma.
And my daddy’s time spent with each one of us boys was so different. With me, his focus was on my schoolwork, especially my math. He would spend hours every night going over my homework with me and especially my math tables. In the summers, he would take me to the grocery store that he owned and at an early age I can remember running the cash register.
When it comes to my baby brother, Eddie, I remember my dad spending whatever time he was doing something around the house with my brother. My dad would involve Eddie in whatever project he had going on around the house. And my dad always had a project going on around the house. My dad loved to cook, and I remember my dad teaching Eddie how to cook. And to this day, my brother does a lot of cooking for his family.
And when it came to my middle brother, Gary, I cannot tell you the hours my daddy spent every night trying to get my brother to walk. My brother was born with brain damage and the doctors said Gary would never walk. My dad ran a set of pipes through the long hallway of our house. He had them sticking out from the wall far enough on each side that Gary could grab them, and my dad would get on the floor and move one of Gary’s legs at a time and move him down the hall. This went on night after night until finally Gary was able to walk on his own.
Growing up today is so radically different and wrong according to the Word of God. Mothers shoulder the lion’s share of the parenting, especially on weekdays,” says W. Jean Yeung, a sociologist at the U-Michigan Institute for Social Research.
And according to a survey by PEW Research survey in 2018 the sociologist is correct as 63% of dads admit that they spent too little time with their children. Some dads would never admit that they do not spend enough time with their children so that number is probably low.
Let me ask you dads some questions from verse 7.
When you are sitting with your children in the family room are you talking with them, are you watching TV, are you talking on the phone or playing a game on the phone?
In the car, as your family is heading out somewhere are you talking with your children or are you listening to the radio? Did you turn on a video for the kids to keep them quiet?
When you put your child to sleep do you allow him or her to ask you the questions they have, or do you tell them to be quiet and go to sleep?
Finally, at the breakfast table, do you allow your children to talk with you or are you too busy looking over the list of things you have to do and planning your day that you ask them to be quiet?
Dads, your children need access to you.
“A” is for attentive. Are you attentive to your children?
Point #3
The “T” in F.A.T. daddy stands for teaching your children about the things that matter in this life. If you do not teach them, the street will.
Deuteronomy 6:6–7 NKJV
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
The Lord in this passage of Scripture makes every dad a teacher. And not only are you to be a teacher to your children, but you are also to be the very best teacher you can be.
Certainly, you are to teach them to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Now, that is going to be hard to do if you do not have that personal relationship with Jesus. But if you have that personal relationship with Jesus, no dad worth his salt would want his child to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. With everything in you, you are going to teach your child about the love that God has for him or her and they need to receive the gift of salvation.
But the writer is also talking about teaching your child the bigger picture also- the commands, the statutes, and judgments of God. You are to teach them how the Holy Bible teaches us to live so that it will go well with them.
Today, you see so many young children whose lives are a train wreck and God is going to say that dads you did not teach them how to live according to my Word.
“T” is for teaching your children. Are you teaching your children the way of the Lord or are you teaching the way that seems right but ends in destruction? Or worse yet, are you not teaching your child at all and allowing the street to teach them?
Conclusion
If you are raising children, remember children need a F.A.T. daddy.
One that is “FAITHFUL” to God and his family.
One that is “ATTENTIVE” to his children.
One that “TEACHES” his children what matters in life.
Take the first letter of each word and you get “F.A.T.” daddy. Are you a “F.A.T.” daddy?
