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FATHER’S DAY DEVO I served in youth ministry for 23 years, beginning when I was a junior at Lincoln Christian University. I remember in those early days of youth ministry, as I was working with teenagers and parents, occasionally hearing the phrase that went something like “when you are a parent, you’ll understand.” As a young youth minister, I didn’t appreciate that sentiment. Obviously, these parents didn’t realize that I was a trained professional. I have a degree in youth ministry. I’m reading books and attending conferences. I know teenagers. I know about youth culture. This is what I was trained to do. I may not be a parent, but I probably understand your kid better than you do. (Oh, the younger me - sigh) Then something happened. On a snowy March 7th at 12:01 a.m. in Anderson, Indiana, I became a father. As I held my little girl in my arms for the first time…there are no words that adequately describe that feeling. You have to experience it. In the following years, my family continued to grow. I am now the father of four amazing daughters. The level of love and pride and joy along with the heartache and fear and anxiety. All those emotions on levels I have never experienced before. As my daughters grew older, I realized that my perspective had changed. As much as younger me hated to hear it, those parents were right. I didn’t understand. I knew some great things and had ministry successes - but I never really appreciated what the parents were going through until I was one. And now I can’t believe that those parents actually trusted 20 year-old me to load up their kids into the church van and take them anywhere. What were they thinking? Parenthood is a sacred responsibility. We are called to nurture, teach, and protect. We strive to shape values and character and construct a strong foundation for them to build their lives on. Proverbs 22:6 tells us to “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” This verse from Proverbs sums up our job as parents and our goal as parents. I love being a father. Being a father has made me a better husband, better man, and better minister. I write this as we near Father’s Day and I ask you to consider fatherhood from a few different angles: Our own Fathers Ephesians 6:1-3: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” - which is the first commandment with a promise - “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy a long life on the earth.” This passage in Ephesians draws us back to the Ten Commandments found in the Old Testament. “Honor your Father and Mother” As we grow older, our parents have a tendency to grow older too. However, there is no expiration date on the 10 Commandments. No matter how old you are, How are you honoring your parents? If our parents are still living, we honor them with our time, our respect, and our care for them. If our parents are no longer with us, we can still honor them through the kind of lives we live as we continue on their legacy. Our Heavenly Father I acknowledge that many people have a bad relationship or even no relationship with their earthly father. But we all have a God who loves us so much that he CHOSE to be our Father and for us to be his children. God did not have to get that personal. He could have stayed with Lord, Master, God. But when he wanted to relate to us on a different level. 1 John 3:1 “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! We have a Father who loves us, chose us, and will never leave us. Our own Children Back to Ephesians 4, after telling children to honor their parents, Paul directs Fathers saying: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 4:4
We have a responsibility to bring up our children in the Lord. To teach through our words and our example. But what about after we have ‘brought them up’? We still have a role to play in our adult childrens’ lives. Your kids are never too old. Sent that text, make that phone call. Spoil those grandkids.
Our spiritual Children Even if you do not have children of your own, you can play a vital role in the life of someone in your church. As a member of the body of Christ, we need to come alongside the children in our congregations. Our children need father figures and grandfather figures in their lives. James, Jesus’ half-brother, tells us that the religion that God accepts as pure and faultless includes looking after widows and orphans (James 1:27). There are far too many boys and girls in our churches that lack a positive, male role model. Like Paul became to Timothy, is there a young man or woman in your church or in your life that you can begin to invest in?
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