The Father Figure

While a father cannot control the lives of his children completely, neither does Jesus attempt to control our lives as though we were robots. Fathers, like the Father in Heaven, are looking for those children who will willingly submit to authority and learn to be accountable for their own actions.

As you can see, a father’s love is shown in quite different fashion from that of mothers. This doesn’t mean that the father loves his children any less. Quite the contrary, it means that he loves his children so much that he will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to build the children in strong citizens.

Father may be using the rod of correction on his children and be hard on them to try to get them to submit to authority but don’t make the mistake of attacking the children that he is correcting. A father will lay down his life for his children and no one had better raise a hand against them or they will face the father’s wrath.

As I come to the close of this sermon I want to make a few final points. So many of the youth that I come into contact with have little or no respect for parents or adults simply because they perceive those adults as weak leaders who really don’t care. Our society is so caught up in earning a better lifestyle or doing our own thing that we don’t take time to raise our children. They are treated as possessions that we can either enjoy or neglect and not as living, breathing human beings.

The root of bitterness that has risen in the heart of the youth and younger generations of America are a direct result of fathers who just don’t care anymore. I know that this is just a sign of the times in which we live but that doesn’t negate the fact that many families are in ruin because of the lack of love and concern. If you want your children’s respect then do your job as a father and correct them. Train them in the ways of the Lord. Training requires work and commitment and integrity. None of these things are easy but the end result of a child that loves God and serves God and man is worth the effort many times over.

James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

As natural fathers, we should be striving to fulfill this role in the lives of our children just as God fills it for His children. We must ever be conscious of the things our kids are doing and endeavor to provide only those things that are good and perfect in the sight of God for our kids.

We must work daily on maintaining integrity with our children. They should know where we stand on every important issue of life and spirituality. They should know that Dad will always give the same answer to the same question every time it comes up. Kids should also know that Dad and Mom will not be coerced or manipulated because both parents will stand together in unity..

In summary, we must realize that God’s idea of a successful father and that of the world are vastly different. We must also realize that being a father is our most important job in this life next to our commitment to Christ and His work. Our children are the only thing in this life that we can take with us to the next.