June 16, 2006

 

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

 

--Deuteronomy 6:6-7

 

This past week, we’ve been looking at what true men and women of God look like. And on this Friday before Father’s Day, I want to share a special word about what a godly father looks like.

 

You know, it’s not poverty, crime, drugs, abuse, or unemployment that really provides the biggest problems for our culture today. It’s families with dads who are missing in action.

 

Many fathers are physically present with their kids, but they are spiritually absent. They haven’t assumed the responsibility God has given them as fathers to lead their families spiritually.

 

My friend James Merrit has given an acrostic that describes the four main responsibilities of a dad:

 

D stands for direction, or giving guidance.

 

A stands for availability, to be there.

 

D is stands for discipline, firm and fair discipline.

 

S stands for spirituality, to be a spiritual man.

 

If you change the second word in this acrostic to the word unavailable, you get DUDS!

 

Dads, our children don’t need substitutes! They want you to be the champions of their faith, to stand firm and strong as courageous parents to help them fight the raging secularism in our world.

 

It’s my prayer that more dads will commit to being spiritual leaders in their families today!

 

GOD HAS CALLED CHRISTIAN DADS TO BE THE SPIRITUAL LEADERS OF THEIR FAMILIES.