Transcription
This morning, by God's grace, we want to share on attributes of a good father and how best to relate with them. Attributes of a good father and how best to relate with them. And messages like these must be well noted by the fathers themselves, and then also well noted by the wives and the mothers, who together with the fathers have a joint responsibility in grooming the sons. Grooming the sons to also become very godly, dependable fathers in the process of time. And it's also a very essential message to all our eligible single brothers who anytime soon would we find a wife and also settle down in their respective families.
Attributes of a good father and how best to relate with them. We take our text this morning from Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 18, verse 17 to 19. Genesis chapter 18, 17-19. And I will read the voice version of the scripture. I wonder, this was God speaking to the two angels that came down with Him. They had just been well received by Abraham, and the angels were about to proceed to Sodom and Gomorrah. And God, in God, said, "I wonder if I should hide from Abraham what I am about to do. After all, Abraham will become the father of a great and powerful nation, and all the other nations of the earth will find their blessing in him. I have chosen Him for a reason, namely that He will carefully instruct His children and His household to keep themselves strong in relationship to Me and to walk in My ways by doing what is good and right in the world and by showing mercy and justice to all others. I know He will uphold His end of the covenant. I know He will uphold His end of the covenant so that He can ensure My promises to Him will be fulfilled and upheld as well." Hallelujah. This was God's testimony about a man, a father, who grew to become a father of God's nation. And you could see some very interesting attributes being and qualities being mentioned as God reflected about the life, the purpose, and His assignment for this man. We'll be looking at that again very shortly.
But we begin by reflecting on the responsibilities of a father. Fatherhood is descriptive of a functional role that a man consistently plays in the lives of certain people. God has given the responsibility of molding the character of children primarily to the parents. In Proverbs chapter 22, verse 6, Proverbs 22, verse 6, King James version says, "Train up a child in the way he should go." And the way a child should go is not determined by the child. The way the child should go is not determined by current trends. There are ways that God has put in place for godly children to be raised. And every father, working hand in hand with the mother, has a responsibility to train up their children in the ways that God has instructed, in the way he should go. And he says, "And when he's old, he will not depart from it." And this is the reason why God commended some parents in the Bible. And one of those parents that God commended and spoke well of was the man Abraham. There is an urgent need for effective fatherhood, a very urgent need. We urgently need fathers who will guide. True, among other things, one personal example, we need fathers who will guide through their advice, through their personal instructions from time to time. We need fathers who will provide clear direction to the children and to the household through the right habits, the right habits, the right habits, through strong correction, through right perception, sensitive issues of life. We need fathers that will guide the children and the household in the realm of good moral values, good moral values. Quality time together. Fathers that would provide quality time together for the children and members of the household. And in the realm of quality time, spending quality time together, we need fathers that will give opportunity for questions, questions and answers in diverse issues and areas of life. Providing money for essential needs of the children is very important, but very also importantly, a father must create enough time, not just time, but enough time for his family. And right from the early days of raising the children, the father must be there and be patient to listen to the questions from the children, provide answers in different issues and areas of life.
Jungle that we have many living examples of men you can call a good father. How do you identify them? What are those attributes of a good father? We want to know, we want to hear. A good father provides for the feeding of the children. He provides for the feeding of the children. He provides for the clothing of the children. He provides for their education and professional training. Provides for their education and professional training. A good father is watchful and responsive to the health and safety needs of his children. He's very watchful and he's responsive to the health and safety needs of his children. He takes part in the upbringing of the children. There is a very, very critical role for the mother, but a good father is involved. A good father takes part in the upbringing of the children. He doesn't delegate it out to whoever to just solely and exclusively handle. A good father is involved in the upbringing of his children. He takes part in the teaching and training of the children. Men see a lot of things in the process of life, right from their youthful days. And so they are in a position, when they become fathers, in a position to also give quality words of counsel to their sons and to their daughters. It impacts. A good father impacts the right values, the right values onto his children. The right values, the right values. Godliness, humility, honesty, hard work, diligence. Impacts the right values into onto his children. He molds and refines their attitude and character. He molds and refines their attitude and character. He takes part in the correction and discipline of his children. He takes part. And that is very essential because when you have just one of both parents showing the right way, and the other parent is always silent, indifferent, and sometimes may even be misdirecting the child in the wrong direction, in the opposite direction, there could be issues because a child that already has wrong tendencies will begin to drift gradually towards that parent that is encouraging him or her in the wrong, in the wrong direction.
A good father is not assessed only by the way he relates with his children. A good father also cares for his wife. That is one of the ways you know a truly good father. He cares for his wife. He makes his wife and children a major priority in his plans and in his decisions. A good father makes his wife and children a major priority in his plans and in his decisions. He creates time to be with his wife and children. He creates time. He recognizes his position as the first role model the children should learn from and follow. Is the first role model available for the children to observe, learn from, and follow. A good father models spiritual fellowship to his children by his personal example. He goes to church himself. He doesn't drop the children and his wife in church and go out elsewhere. A good father himself fellowships in church, in the sanctuary of God. He prays for his children regularly. He prays for them. He blesses them. Intercedes for them. He prophesies over their lives and over their future. He ministers unto his children. A good father knows that the children will not be with him forever. And so the privilege of that close oversight that God has given unto every father is for a time. And so to prepare them ahead, today, the time ahead when they too would stand on their own as young adults and subsequently as married men and women. It grooms them for leadership. It trains them on how they can excel with their talents, with their gifts, and their special abilities. And a very good father will do everything possible within resources available to ensure that his children are able to discover their talents on time, develop those talents. And so it will ensure that they have the right training, the right tools, the right exposure, and the right platform for the development and expression of the different dimensions of their potentials. He trains and he supports them to be financially independent. A good father trains his children to be financially independent as early as possible, as early as possible. He trains them to be productive, to embrace the virtue of hard work very early in the day because they are going to need it for the rest of their life, especially when they are on their own.
So, what are some vital lessons that we must also highlight as we look at the father in the home? One is that family planning is necessary for any responsible husband and father. Family planning is very necessary for any responsible husband and father. If you reflect on all of these responsibilities on the hands of a father, and you are going to do this for a number of years, at least 20 years for each of your children, then it implies that every father with foresight should recognize that for each of the children to get the best in life, you would also have to have a limit to the number of children you are going to have. So you will be able to have enough time, enough resources to care for and minister to all, each of these children in order to cope with the many responsibilities that comes with fatherhood. What's the second lesson? And that has to do with God's headship principle for managing the family. God has a headship principle, and the headship principle applies to the running of every family and home, and the running and managing of the church of God. God always walks through the headship principle. Always. The devil knows because he was once with God, he knows that God works with the headship principle, and that the headship principle is very key in strategy, including spiritual warfare. The devil always preventionally attacks the head first. Our Lord Jesus, in fact, also emphasized that when He said, "Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter." And who is the head of the home, according to God's order? The husband, the father. The father of the home is the number one target for spiritual attacks. If we are able to recognize this healthy principle and what occurs spiritually, we can see why we would then see why the devil has put so much effort into causing divorce in the home. The father as head of the household needs consistent prayers and support by members of his family and his household. Every father needs the prayers of his family and members of his own household, and he needs their support. Every father needs the support of his family, the support of members of his household.
Lesson number three. There are spiritual forces that are fighting seriously against the family and effective fatherhood. Are spiritual forces that are fighting seriously against the family and effective fatherhood. Always have this in mind. Satan knows that without the safety and security of the family unit, mankind is highly vulnerable to attacks and manipulation. Because of this, he vehemently fights those organizations, ministries, and ministers of God that focus on building and saving the family and marriage institution. They promote the perception that marriage is not worth the trouble. It's not worth the trouble. And what they are encouraging now is focus on just the children, focus on just the children. So we are having a society where you see a woman that ought to be a family woman, who has love for her husband, love for the father of the family, and love for the children, and that is changing and giving way to this Jezebel-inspired new setup where the woman's heart, the wives, the woman's heart is only after her children, and the husband or father of the home is despised and eventually is divorced.
So, how should members, in closing, how should members of a family relate with their father? Fathers today have the most challenging assignment and are expected to be the perfect role models, even when they are facing difficult situations in their own lives as well. Most men want the best for their families. Most men want the best for their families, and we go above and beyond if they have the capacity to do more. So, having this in mind, how should members of the family relate? What a father should be respected. Every father should be respected, if not by outsiders, but certainly by his own children, certainly by members of his own household. A father should be respected. Number two, they should be obeyed because God is the one that has put them there to provide leadership for the family. So as they give direction, as they give instruction, they should be obeyed. Number three, they should support them. Members of the family should support to support the father. You must intentionally, deliberately support him in every possible way. Supporting also includes providing love and care for him, especially as he advances. Initially, the wife does more of this, but the family and the children also have a responsibility as the father advances in age. One of the strongest indicators of love, one of the strongest indicators of true love, is your concern for the health of the person you claim that you love. So, one of the ways you show that you love your father is by showing interest and care, providing care in the realm of his health. Number four, they should protect his interest and his assets. Every good child should do this for the father. Protect his interest, protect his assets. And number five, a father should be appreciated regularly. Appreciate him regularly because most fathers put in so much, so much to ensure that the home, the family is well taken care of. So they should, they deserve to be appreciated regularly. Number six, a father should be honored. The father should be honored. And these, this doesn't just happen, happen passively. It takes, it takes, you know, deliberate steps for you to do this properly. And God Himself has commanded you to honor your father, "Honor your father, that it may be well with you in your days here on earth." A father should be honored. The father should be honored. And lastly, a father should be celebrated. The father should be celebrated. So there are times where you take honoring the father to the next level, bring it to the point of celebration. The father should be celebrated. Certain landmark birthdays, the father clocks, clocks are 50, 60, 70, 80. You know, at a particular time when it gets to 60, and especially 70, 80, that should be, the father should not be involved anymore in any aspect of what will be done to mark that landmark big day. Should be the children putting everything together, funding everything. A father should be celebrated. Join your hands together, let's celebrate our fathers. Someone make a joyful noise this morning. Joyful noise.