Fathers, Be Encouraged

Introduction

You know, our country needs heroes. And that is where dad’s come in. Dad’s can be heroes.

Back with we celebrated Mother’s Day, I shared that I was blessed to have know three wonderful mothers: My mom, my mother-in-law, and my wife.

I was also blessed to have known two wonderful fathers. First, there was my father. He taught me what it means to love the Lord my God, and to serve Him. Growing up, my father was my hero. At times a scary hero, but I knew he was always there for me. When I needed encouraging, I called my dad. When I needed how to fix something I called my dad—well that was not always the smartest thing to do because my dad wasn’t very good at fixing thing—but he was always there believing in me. He always believed I could do it.

The second father I was blessed to have I called, “Daddy.” He was my father-in-law. I was blessed to work with him for more than 15 years. Then God gave me the blessing of becoming his pastor. Like my dad, daddy believed in me, pushed me, and challenged me even when I didn’t want to be challenged.

Both of these men challenged me to be a father to my boys. They were always there to support me, challenge me. And, at times, guide me.

But the one thing I took away from both of these men was the truth of Proverbs 22: 6.

Parental Responsibility

Proverbs 22:6 NIV

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

Really, I like the way the NET (and some other translations) puts it.

Proverbs 22:6 NET

Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Fathers are called to train their children. We need to teach our children—and the passage says in the way they should go—what path they should take. In the book of Proverbs, there are only two ways someone can go: the way of the wise, or they way of a fool. Only one of these two ways takes training. It takes training to follow God.

Parental Message

What I love is that we are told exactly what to teach. In Deuteronomy 6, we find what the Jews refer to as the Shama or Hear. Look with me at Deuteronomy 6:4.

The Lord is One!

Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

God wanted father’s to remind their children that Yahweh is only one God in three parts. We must remember that as well.

Loving God

Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Next we are to teach out children to love the Lord our God with the totality of our being!

With all our heart. For the Jew the heart was considered to be the center of one’s being. It was where thought and feelings bubbled up.

With all our soul—unity of spirit is paramount to God. And we are to pass this on to our children.

With all our strength—we are teach out children to love God with all of our physical abilities.

Now here’s the key. Dads, we cannot teach our children to love the Lord, unless He is our God! And we cannot teach them to love God with all their heart, soul, and strength unless we actually love God with the totality of our being!

How We Teach

Next we are told how we go about passing our knowledge on to our children. Look at Deuteronomy 6 6.

Live Out God’s Commands Yourself!

Deuteronomy 6:6 NIV

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

The only way we are going pass on our belief in the Lord is if we actually live out what we believe.

One of the reasons we see so many college aged students leave the faith is because they struggle with reconciling what they were taught with what they saw.

The Jews were told the only way to pass on God’s commands was to live out God’s commands!

Deuteronomy 6:7 NIV

Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Teach!

Here the NIV says impress them—other translations use the word teach which I think is a little better—Nevertheless we are to impress or teach our children.

Talk about them when your sitting at home. Conversations about God and His commands should be common around our homes.

Talk about them as you walk along the road. As we go through life—our conversations, actions, and life should reflect our obedience to God.

When we put these two things together and you have parents that are constantly looking for teachable moments.

Talk about them when you lie down.

Talk about them when you get up.

Again put the two together, and we would say, talk about them from sun up to sun down.

Deuteronomy 6:8 NIV

Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Many Jews took this literally, when it says tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. However, it may not have been meant to be literal. But rather that God’s word—His commands—were meant to be always before us. King David said it this way:

Psalm 119:11 NIV

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

We hide God’s Word in our hearts—memorize Scripture—so that our hearts and minds are constantly focused on how God wants us to live.

Deuteronomy 6:9 NIV

Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Finally, we’re told that God is to be clearly seen in our homes. The idea of writing God’s Word on you hands or binding them to your foreheads, and writing them on our gates and doorframes is a way of keeping the Word of God ever close to our hearts.

A Father’s Love

Paul reinforces this thought in a short little verse in Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:4 NIV

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

First, we’re told not to exasperate our children—provoking our children to anger. In the Roman world, this was revolutionary. Children were not seen as people—so to consider their feelings really sounded strange. The truth is when anger is flooding the home, God’s love is hard to see.

Instead of exasperation we are to train them the teachings of the Lord.

And we are to instruct them—this has the idea of correcting, directing, and encouraging all three—to display the Lord through their lives.

So What

Being a father is not hard. But being a godly father is anything by easy! It doesn’t matter how old your kids are it is NEVER too late to begin:

Training your children in the way they should go.

Focusing your life on the one true God!

Love the Lord God with the totality of your being!

Living your life in obedience to God’s Word.

Impressing them on our children—making the understand how incredibly important living for God really is.

Looking for teachable moments.

Talking about God from sun up to sun down.

Hiding God’s Word in your heart.

Showing the evidence of your relationship with the Lord all around you!