This will be my second Father's Day as a father. I have learned much about life over the past 15 months, but I'm still quite wet behind the ears, if you will. I thought it would be interesting to take a second to think about what it means to be a father.
Firstly, I would like to say thank you to my father and to all the father figures that God has placed in my life. All these men have shown me a thing or two about life, even if they didn't realize it, by their triumphs and defeats in life. I've found that one of the best ways to grow up/learn stuff is just to watch people.
Analytic observation of real people in the real world is one of the greatest tools for growth.
Secondly, what does it mean to be a father? That is a deep question. Being a father, I suppose, combines bread-winning, spiritual guidance, mentoring, and many other things. Ultimately, however, fatherhood is a metaphor. Underneath the physical, relational aspect of father, the role of a father is revelatory. As I interact with my child (soon to be children, Lord willing), I am supposed to be showing her who God is (the same is true for mothers, but it's not Mother's Day, so...). That idea hit me today. It's a heavy thought. It's a scary thought. God is perfectly patient, loving, just, faithful, etc. I am not perfectly any of those things, but even so, I can show my children a shadow of what our Heavenly Father is like. I should be striving to do my very best to represent Him accurately.
At the end of the day, I should be showing my children who their Father really is. I have been entrusted with the physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, and academic development of a little girl named Genesis. I do not own her though. She belongs to God. I need to show her that she and I share the same God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there. It's a high calling, is it not?
Firstly, I would like to say thank you to my father and to all the father figures that God has placed in my life. All these men have shown me a thing or two about life, even if they didn't realize it, by their triumphs and defeats in life. I've found that one of the best ways to grow up/learn stuff is just to watch people.
Analytic observation of real people in the real world is one of the greatest tools for growth.
Secondly, what does it mean to be a father? That is a deep question. Being a father, I suppose, combines bread-winning, spiritual guidance, mentoring, and many other things. Ultimately, however, fatherhood is a metaphor. Underneath the physical, relational aspect of father, the role of a father is revelatory. As I interact with my child (soon to be children, Lord willing), I am supposed to be showing her who God is (the same is true for mothers, but it's not Mother's Day, so...). That idea hit me today. It's a heavy thought. It's a scary thought. God is perfectly patient, loving, just, faithful, etc. I am not perfectly any of those things, but even so, I can show my children a shadow of what our Heavenly Father is like. I should be striving to do my very best to represent Him accurately.
At the end of the day, I should be showing my children who their Father really is. I have been entrusted with the physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, and academic development of a little girl named Genesis. I do not own her though. She belongs to God. I need to show her that she and I share the same God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there. It's a high calling, is it not?
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