FUEL: Disciplines of Godly Men; Fatherhood2 min read

This chapter of our book, and today’s lesson, was on fatherhood. While I am not yet a father I was very interested in the principles that would come from this lesson because I knew they would help me not only in the future when I become a father, but to understand the dynamics of father/son relationships as I encounter them. Unfortunately I was raised by a single mother and never had an in-the-home father figure so a good bit of this stuff does not come natural to me. I am thrilled to be a part of this study and learn some valuable information about fatherhood in advance. I am sure some of these principles will be invaluable later.

Kent, at this stage of his life (middle age), is harvesting the fruits of years of hard labor. After raising his children with a focus on God he now enjoys a mutually rewarding relationship with his children and grand children. Such a blessing and reward when entering the golden years of your life.

He recommends several things which could very easily be taken for granted. He has a list of “don’t’s” and “do’s” which I have listed below.

Dont’s
Provoking your children to anger
Constant, unconstructive, or untimely criticizm
Overstrickness – Always saying no
Irritability – Allowing your irritability to turn into “do not bother me”
Inconsistency – Don’t break promises to your children
Showing favoritism

Do’s
Tenderness – hugging and kissing is a good thing
Discipline – Timely and appropriate discipline is foundational
Instruction – in a word, Discipleship

You know, God is a perfect picture of how we are to be fathers to our children. He is loving, caring and sacraficial, but he is also just, fair, and deliberate. If we could model ourselves in the image of God as a father I think we might just have a chance of not screwing them up too bad after all.  : )

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