All human fathers are imperfect. That’s why we need a Heavenly Father. To be a Godly father, we emulate our Heavenly Father. Genesis 18:19 tells us that God chose Abraham because of his fatherhood, even before he was a father to Isaac. Genesis 18:19 19 For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” Abraham was chosen because he had the wisdom to make sure and pass on his faith.
A Godly Father has Faith in God
And so, The beginning of Biblical fatherhood is having a relationship with God ourselves—we have Jesus as our Foundation, so we can pass this on to our children.
When John writes to the Church in his old age, we read that he singles out Fathers as those who can be counted on to lead from a place of solid relationship with God, saying in 1 John 2:13 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. He’s writing to fathers as persons of maturity. Why did father Abraham stand on God’s promise, even though, reproductively speaking, he and his wife Sarah were as good as dead? Why did he believe God that they would still have children, even though it was impossible? Because He was fully convinced that His God was bigger than His problem. Romans 4:20-21 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. In His first epistle, John emphasizes twice to fathers that He is writing to them because “You have known the One who is from the beginning.” This is a knowledge born of experience, that the important thing in life is to know and abide in the One True God.
A Godly Father Teaches
Jesus said that the Greatest Command was to – “love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”(Deuteronomy 6:5). But the command does not stop there. It continues –“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). God is telling the fathers that they have a responsibility to teach the child to love Him with all their hearts. And He tells them how to do it. He tells them how to impress his commands on the children. He says, talk about them when you sit down or walk along the road; when you lie down to sleep and when you get up first thing in the morning. The teaching continues all day. Fathers teach your children to love God. The proverbs says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
A Godly father is a Leader
The Scripture we started with is our Heavenly Father explaining that one of our forefathers (Abraham) is to Lead or direct his children. It even tells what he is to lead them to do – to keep the way of the Lord. What way is that? By doing what is just and right. If we are the priests of our household, then we must do what is right ourselves, and also let our family know what is right. In Joshua 24:15, he gives an example of leadership of his home: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” As Husbands and fathers, we need to understand that the responsibility is ours. We will give an account to God over the way that we are leading our family.
A Godly father Fights for his family, and Fights for the Kingdom.
When we put the Lord first, we have confidence that He will protect us. Psalm 91:1-7 One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, Will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”…As one missionary martyr, Jim Elliot, said, God’s promise in Psalm 91 means that we are indestructible until our work on earth is done.
They have learned that God is their strength, and to lean on Him. Ephesians 6:13-17 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God…We’re only able to stand, because we stand In CHRIST. In Him we have strength to stand as we go about the Father’s business. 1 Cor 15:58 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. We have work to do, and as men, this requires us to stand firm and be steadfast in what the Lord has for us to do. As 1 Cor 16:13 tells us: 13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Godly Fathers Discipline
Thirdly, godly fathers disciplines. Listen to the Scripture.
Heb 12 v5 5 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are punished by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He punishes every son whom He accepts.” All of us are disciplined by the Lord from time-to-time, as He sees fit. And when this happens, we must stop and consider WHY He is disciplining us—not to be terrified, or to whine about it, but to consider that our behavior needs an attitude adjustment. God presents discipline as evidence that He loves us. And that means that if we love our children, then we discipline them.
Godly Fathers have Compassion The Psalmist said, For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:13-14 Sometimes a child doesn’t need teaching or discipline or even leadership. He or She needs a compassionate father. Since this is how God treats us, maybe this should be the way that we treat our children.
Godly Fathers are Available. A godly father is not an absentee father. In John 14, when Jesus was telling the disciples that he would have to leave them for a little while, He lets them know that He, God would still be with them. He says in John 14:16-18: 16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; 17 the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. God has made sure that we are never alone. But, you know, no matter how much we want to be there, there’s always going to be times when we can’t. That’s why we have to introduce them to our Heavenly Father. We can’t always be there for our children and grandchildren, but we have a Heavenly Father who can be there – always and forever.
A Godly Father Provides. He may not provide their wants or all they desire – but He provides their needs. The Bible says,“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8. We have an obligation to provide for the needs of our families.
A Godly Father Loves “And the greatest of these is love”. A father needs to love his children. How do you do that? The Bible tells us. “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
A Father needs to love. We do this by being willing to give of ourselves, and by lifting our family up to the Lord in prayer, bringing them to Church, If they’re little, then send them to Vacation Bible School or Church Camp, complete Bible studies and devotions with them, but above all introduce them to your Heavenly Father.