A few pointers From God

 

Ephesians 6:4

Dads have you wondered, has God given me any clear instruction on raising my children?  Next to marriage, it is one of the most difficult tasks of being a man.  We have many examples in the Bible of great men of God who dropped the ball in the area of investing in their children.  One that comes to mind is Samuel and he totally dropped the ball with his sons, and he is only one example of many in the Scriptures.  I do not believe any of these men in the Bible set as a goal, the failure of passing on greatness to their sons, in fact, it seems they often just went passive when it came to their sons.

Often, I’ve heard and been guilty of quoting Proverbs 22:6, as if it was a promise from God.  The Proverbs are not promises; they are recommendations, precepts, and very wise council, and a dad would be wise to follow the leadership that comes from Proverbs.  In Colossians 3:21 we are given this wise council, “Fathers, do not embitter your Children, or they will become discouraged.”  From the child’s eyes, the dad is very special, a person they can run to, a protector, an example, and sometimes their hero.  I do not believe dads try to destroy the way they are seen by their child, it happens when we as dads forget to keep our promises to them, or we are harsh with them.  Often we forget to listen and learn from them, and often we feel guilt about not being there when we promised and we may over compensate with gifts; when it was you they wanted.  One of the worst things we do as dads is move the boundaries, and this will always lead to frustration and they will become discouraged.

I often stand in amazement at the lack of training I see in children, it seems the inmates are running the asylum, and that happens every time Ephesians 6:4 is not applied in the heart of the dad.  “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”  My dad would not go down in history as one of the greatest dads, but he was a keeper of his word.  When it came to discipline, he was consistent, always one warning and after that came the belt.  I always knew he would keep his word and if I did not obey after one warning, I knew what was going to happen.  I never believed it would hurt him more than it did me, that is, until I became a dad.  Proverbs has much to say on using the belt to discipline your children, Proverbs 13:24, 19:18, 22:15, and 22:13, but many of us have chosen to listen to modern experts, and ignore the word of the wise king Solomon.  It should never be used in anger, and it should be used sparingly.

The best of dads will leave some scars on his children, and I’m not talking about with a belt, but dads, we have a great example of how to love them from our Father in heaven, and we have many great helps that come from sources like Focus on the Family and great books like bringing up boys and girls from Dr. Dobson.  A book that has helped me understand many things is “Wild at Heart.”  Dads, we cannot pass this assignment off, no one else can fill our spot, but the investment is worth all the time and money, I know because I’ve seen the end results in my daughter.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice my blog; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/