No More Important Role

June 20, 2022

I trust you had fun celebrating your father this weekend. If you didn’t have a father to celebrate, I hope you were able to think of and celebrate a man who gave you a father’s input.

Fathers play such an important role in our lives. When Jesus was asked how we should pray, He said we should say, “Our Father.” Father is a primary representation of God. So the word “father” carries much weight.

I was very fortunate to have an incredible father. Even though he would be the first to say he was far from perfect, he gave me a picture of what a father truly is supposed to be. I learned how to treat women by how he treated my mother. I learned about fathering from how he treated his children. I learned about integrity and perseverance. Though God is a perfect father, I don’t believe we are looking for perfection in our earthly fathers. We just want one who is humble, loving, kind, understanding, caring, intentional, though imperfect.

As fathers, we don’t need to try to shoot for perfection we will never reach. But like my dad did, we can model for our children how to have relationships with integrity at home. That modeling is essential. Besides that, one of the best ways to prepare a child for life is to help them as early as possible to be amazed with the greatness, goodness, generosity, and grace of God. Talk about God naturally all the time. Blow their minds with who God is. Let them witness how you see Him, understand Him, and interact with Him. The more your child is amazed with God, the more likely he or she will be to give themselves to Him.

Has your earthly father helped or hurt your view of God as your Father? Father’s Day is a good day to think about that and work on it if you need to. When Jesus called God our Father, He shattered every negative stereotype of God. None of our negative experiences involving our earthly father pertain to God our Father. If you didn’t have a father who was approachable, loving, and had your very best in mind, God – as your heavenly Father – is waiting to more than make up for what you never had. God never has a bad day, is never in a sour mood, and is never too busy or distracted for His child.

You may have felt that you had to earn your father’s love and respect by accomplishing great things to make him proud of you. God is not a father like that. Since there is nothing you can do to earn your heavenly Father’s love, there is nothing you can do to lose it

When everything is changing around you, it’s important to remember that God is a consistent Father. He will never let you down. He can be counted on. He is reliable and worthy of your trust. This Father’s Day weekend and every one of them to come, I pray that you will get closer and closer to Him. Nothing will ever be more important.