Fathers

Proverbs 17:6 (NKJV) “Children’s children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their father.” Matthew 7:11 implies that even a fallen father knows how to give good gifts to his children. How does a holy and righteous father deal with his children? Colossians 3:21 “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” Ephesians 6:4 “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” A righteous father loves the Lord with heart, soul, and strength. (Deut. 6:5) God’s Words are on his heart (Deut. 6:6) and he will ‘teach them diligently to his children, and shall talk of them when he sits in his house, when he walks by the way, when he lies down, and when he rises up.’ Deut. 6:7 A father does this through encouragement, comforting, and urging his children to live lives worthy of God. 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”(NIV) Our enemy, the devil, seeks to interrupt God’s process of raising godly children. We must obey Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” We fathers must abide in Christ; else in our flesh we will become exasperating, embittering, stumbling blocks to our children. It is God’s calling that we ‘bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord’. If we are to persevere in this calling, our relationship with Christ must remain strong. Fathers, let us take this exhortation to heart--Deuteronomy 4:9 “...be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”(NIV)
And may our children’s children be a crown to us for the glory of God!