The Principles of Fatherhood

A friend of ours, Chris Craig, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Plainview wrote this....and I wanted to share it with you. It is really good!!!

God's love & mine,
Lauren
aka Nonnie

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The Principles of Fatherhood

Parents are instructed to "train up a child in the way that they should go." Unfortunately, for the most part I see parents, especially fathers telling their children the way they should not go. At first this seems like symantics; but, it is important for a father to do the following 5 things for their children.

1. Establish their Identity - A lot of people struggle with understanding the "will of God" for their life; but, scripture is full of examples where God spoke clearly with people about their destiny. God does have a plan for the lives of our children. We need to spend time with Him and with them so that we can help them to understand who God made them to be. 2 great examples of this are Gideon (Judges 6:11-13) and Peter (Matthew 16:17-19).

2. Establish their Authority - Children will frequently find themselves in situations where other people try to tell them what to do. Our children must know that we will defend them in situations like this. Our children should know that we trust them and that we will back them up if they ever find themselves in a position where they feel like they have to take a stand. Sometimes, like God, we need to tell people to shut up and listen to our children since they know what they are talking about. (Luke 9:32-36)

3. Develop thier Giftings - Children need a father to teach them how to do the things God is calling them to do. We see a picture of this in the Old Testament story of Aaron and his sons. When Aaron's sons were going to start doing what God wanted to do they had to wear their fathers clothes for the first seven days of the job. Aaron's sons had to learn to fill their father's shoes before they could be trusted. Likewise, as fathers, we must make sure that we are good examples for our children to follow.(Exodus 29:29-30)

4. Develop their Character - Most people try to understand the will of God in terms of location and vocation. They want to know where does God want me to live and what does God want me to do. I do not think that the will of God is primaraly concerned with either of these two issues. I think God is more concerned about who we are than what we do. If we are men/women of character then we can be trusted in any situation. As fathers we must make sure that our children develop a servants heart before they are allowed to assume high levels of responsibility. If we do not help them do this then their lack of character can destroy anything their gifting can build. We see a great example of this in the life training of Joseph in the book of Genesis.

5. Teach them to Fight - One of the most discusting things I encounter is passivity. (especially in men) Some how Christians have bought into some strange turn the other cheek mentality; but, there is a time for all things under the sun. Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a a time to gather stones and a time to throw stones. The marines say it kind of like this, "A lot of sweat in times of peace prevents a lot of blood in times of war." As fathers we must teach our children how to stand up for what they know is right. The truth is worth fighting for, women and children should be defended, and evil should be resisted. Like Aaron Tipton says, we must teach our kids to "stand for something" or they will "fall for anything." (Genesis 14:14-16)