Being a good father begins with a man’s relationship with the Lord. A father must worship God as number one in all he says and does. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 expresses how a father should lead himself, his family, and his home. If he puts the Lord and obedience to His Word first, then his family has a godly example to follow. He will also set the example to all who enter his home. He will teach his children like the father who wrote Proverbs 3 and Proverbs 4. He will give out wisdom and patiently bring along understanding. He will guide those he loves to discern the right path and lead them to righteousness by being righteous himself. (See Proverbs 22:6.) Like the Lord God, he will give his children what is best, even when it’s not easy. (See John 3:16-17 and 1 John 4:14.) He will love his wayward children when it would be easier to write them off as worthless. (See Romans 5:8 and Psalm 103:13.) A good father will not anger and discourage his children to accomplish his own will but will teach and admonish them for their good. (See Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:2.) Not only does a good father mimic the Lord in discipline (Hebrews 12:6), but he also teaches his children that both he and God will discipline them because both he and God love them. (See Proverbs 3:11-12.) The Bible is clear that the role of a father is to lovingly lead, teach, train, and discipline his children. All of this done in love protects them while they’re young, provides for them while they’re in need, and prepares them to do the same when they become fathers too. Men who love and follow the Lord make men who love and follow the Lord. (See Micah 6:8.)
