Why Be A Dad?

“WHY BE A DAD?” Prov. 23:22-25

INTRO – Paul Harvey – “What are fathers made of?”

“A father is a thing that is forced to endure childbirth w/out an anesthetic.

A father is a thing that growls when it feels good – and laughs very loud when it’s scared half to death.

A father never feels entirely worthy of the worship in a child’s eyes. He’s never quite the hero his daughter thinks, never quite the man his son believes him to be – and this worries him sometimes. So he works too hard to try and smooth the rough places in the road for those of his own who will follow him.

A father is a thing that gets very angry when first school grades are not as good as he thinks they should be. He scolds his son though he knows it’s the teacher’s fault. Fathers are what give daughters away to other men who aren’t nearly good enough so they can have grandchildren who are smarter than anybody’s.

Fathers make bets with insurance companies about who’ll live the longest. Though they know the odds, they keep right on betting. And one day they lose.

I don’t know where fathers go when they die. But I’ve an idea that, after a good rest, wherever it is, he won’t be happy unless there’s work to do. He won’t just sit on a cloud and wait on the girl he loved and the children she bore. He’ll be busy there, too, repairing the stairs, oiling the gates, improving the streets, smoothing the way.”

Bill Cosby – “Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap on a rope; asking your son to make up a name rather than tell anybody who he is; knowing that ‘Everything’s OK, Dad’ means ‘I haven’t killed anyone.’”

Fatherhood is more than a job that we men do for a short time in our lives; it is a calling that G places upon our lives, a blessing that He gives to us. The Bible says, “Don’t you see that children are G’s best gift, the fruit of the womb His generous legacy? Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, w/ your quivers full of children!” (Ps. 127:3-5 MSG)

We men need to understand the huge blessing that our kids are! I know sometimes that’s hard to believe. There are those times that we simply want to say as Bill Cosby said, “I brought you into this world; I can take you out.”

Why be a dad? Why take on this huge responsibility?

I. B/C OF THE HUGE IMPACT YOU CAN MAKE ON YOUR KIDS – v. 22

A. Your kids are going to hear what you say.

a. They will hear what you say verbally.

b. They will hear what you say nonverbally.

c. And both your word and your actions will make a huge impact on your kids, no matter how old they may be.

B. Of course, those who have preschool-age kids can make a bigger impact on their kids’ lives.

a. Don’t need to waste those years.

b. Don’t think that those years are not important.

c. Don’t think that you are not making an impact during those important years.

d. Most of us whose kids are beyond those precious preschool years wish we could have some of that time back.

i. We don’t miss the dirty diapers or the lost sleep.

ii. But we do realize that we can’t get back the time we missed out on of reading “Good Night, Moon” to them, or rocking them to sleep, or playing army or even Barbies w/ them.

C. Dads, we have the opportunity to make a huge impact on our kids’ lives.

a. James Dobson and Gary Bauer in book Children at Risk – “Fathers must be there to tame adolescent boys, to give a young son a sense of what it means to be a man, and to explain why honor and loyalty and fidelity are important. For daughters, fathers are a source of love and comfort that can help her avoid surrendering her virtue in a fruitless search for love through premarital sex.”

D. That’s why it is SO important for us to make sure that we are walking w/ the Lord so that the impact we make will be a godly impact that will affect their lives w/ eternal significance.

a. Dads, do you know Jesus personally as your Lord and Savior?

b. Dads, are you walking w/ Jesus daily?

c. Dads, are you serving Jesus faithfully?

d. Dads, are you loving and worshipping Jesus passionately?

II. B/C OF THE WISDOM THAT YOU CAN GIVE TO YOUR KIDS – v. 23

A. Where are your kids getting the wisdom and direction they need to live a godly life and make it in this world?