Being a Dad is no easy task, no matter what the Hallmark Cards section looks like. Dads come in all flavors and with baggage of their own. Sometimes moms are helpful to fathering and sometimes not so much. Some dads die or are sick or are absent.
But today I suspect a lot of fathers feel a little (or a lot) embarrassed because they wonder if they are a good enough Dad. (At least this is how Mother's Day generally strikes me, so if I'm projecting, I apologize.)
But here is the good news for all parents who struggle and wonder and even fear that they have irrevocably broken a beloved child: God is bigger than all that. Not one of us has ever had a perfect parent and no one will in this broken World. (And, frankly, I don't know that I would want to be the child that has to live up to a perfect parent anyway.)
When we slip and mess up and even see ourselves as part of a catastrophic failure, our children still have The Father, Abba Father--you know, the Almighty Father, who provides all we fail to provide. (And God provides that FOR us too!)
So we can let God be our example and tend our children (of birth and choice) as God cares for us:
As God loves us, be loving toward your children. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
As God forgives us, be forgiving toward your children. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. Daniel 9:9
As God encourages us, be encouraging toward your children. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Matthew 6:25
As God instructs us, be instructive toward your children. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4
Trust God to be God who loves your children better than you can yourself. And trust God to love you more than you feel you can love yourself. That’s it: trust God (and God even helps with this!) and do for those you love, as best you can, what God does for you: love, forgive, encourage and instruct.
This is an amazing example for your children no matter their age or yours.
But today I suspect a lot of fathers feel a little (or a lot) embarrassed because they wonder if they are a good enough Dad. (At least this is how Mother's Day generally strikes me, so if I'm projecting, I apologize.)
But here is the good news for all parents who struggle and wonder and even fear that they have irrevocably broken a beloved child: God is bigger than all that. Not one of us has ever had a perfect parent and no one will in this broken World. (And, frankly, I don't know that I would want to be the child that has to live up to a perfect parent anyway.)
When we slip and mess up and even see ourselves as part of a catastrophic failure, our children still have The Father, Abba Father--you know, the Almighty Father, who provides all we fail to provide. (And God provides that FOR us too!)
So we can let God be our example and tend our children (of birth and choice) as God cares for us:
As God loves us, be loving toward your children. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
As God forgives us, be forgiving toward your children. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. Daniel 9:9
As God encourages us, be encouraging toward your children. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Matthew 6:25
As God instructs us, be instructive toward your children. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4
Trust God to be God who loves your children better than you can yourself. And trust God to love you more than you feel you can love yourself. That’s it: trust God (and God even helps with this!) and do for those you love, as best you can, what God does for you: love, forgive, encourage and instruct.
This is an amazing example for your children no matter their age or yours.
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