A Father’s Role
Psalm 127:3-5(The Message) Don't you see that children are God's best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Like a warrior's fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children! Your enemies don't stand a chance against you; you'll sweep them right off your doorstep.
1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 (New International Version) 10You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
Sometimes I can find myself lost in translation with where my walk is compared to what my role is. I would like, first of all, to thank a fellow reader who was kind enough to rebuke me and to state what legacy dads are looking for. I also want to thank Lance in redirecting me with words of wisdom and encouragement on the direction of Legacy. That being said, the above two verses are from two different translations, but are very poignant are the direction that we should be headed when rearing our children.
I would like to apologize to the readers if I have turned you away and or discouraged you along your walk. As fathers, coaches, mentors and the like, it is our responsibility to act accordingly to God’s will: To love one another. As a 1 Thessalonians states, a father should encourage, comfort and urge you to live a life worthy of God. Forgive me if I have been preachy and or condescending toward any of you.
I want to say that if you are reading your Bible, praying daily and repentant of heart to God, then that is a beautiful thing. To refer back to the original verses posted above, I would like to encourage all of you who read this to keep up the good work in walking out your faith. I want to comfort you in that we all screw up (especially me) all the time. I want to urge you to continue to lean on God and build your relationship on Him.
There is a country song where a dad and son are driving down the road and the son spills his coke and fries over the dashboard and blurts out a four-letter word. The father realizes that his son has been watching him and he changes course and becomes pleasantly surprised when he sees his son reading the Bible and praying just like his daddy.
It is times like this (thanks to Peter & Lance) that I am able to reflect and meditate on words from the heart. The older I get the more that I realize that God gives us the ability to have kids in order to show us how much he loves us, because no matter how much I (or my kids) screw up, God still loves us. He loves us so much that he gave his only Son for us – WOW!
If I can be so humble I would like to leave this parting thought: Live a life that encourages (not tears down) those around us (especially our children and family and friends), comfort those who are need and in despair, and urge those who need a word or action to bring them to the next level in their walk that will lead them to a life worthy of God.
Thank you for giving me the time and patience in walking out my faith.
Dante