Sometimes in life it's good to pull back a bit and look at the wider view. Like using a wide-angle lens on a camera, it allows you the opportunity to see things that you might miss ordinarily, because of your proximity. Understanding how God sees our role as fathers today requires us to look from a historical perspective of how God dealt with mankind from creation.
God has always had a parenting plan. It began in the Garden of Eden and will continue throughout all eternity. When God formed Adam from the dust and breathed life into him, he created him with an inbuilt ability to have children; this of course was designed to be through intimacy with his wife Eve.
God our heavenly Father created Adam the first earthly father, with the ability to have sons who would grow and become fathers in their time. A natural cycle was begun in Eden that we are now part of, and which will continue.
Unfortunately, in our modern society we see that not every man who fathers’ children biologically actually take up his responsibility and role as a father to raise his children in the right way, and sometimes not at all. Providing the seed for children without taking responsibility for the child that you have created would, in previous generations, have been shameful and dishonourable, but is almost commonplace today. Whether we are raising boys or raising girls, doing our best as single parents or Co-parenting, we as the child's father need to be present in their lives.
There are also many men who honestly desire to do the right thing and raise their children but are hindered or even prevented by divorce or separation from their spouses. It is also very apparent that many men find themselves in extremely difficult situations, when the tremendous love they feel for their children is restricted from flowing freely.
Men have a God given ability and drive to create the next generation, but without the guidance and wisdom of our heavenly Father I ask the question what will the next generation be like? God originally created Adam in His own image, but after Adam and Eve fell into sin and left the Garden of Eden, the bible reveals that Adam had children in 'his' image, a fallen image and poor reflection of God's original creation.
Our own children like us are born with a fallen nature, and a potential for both great good or terrible evil. How important then is it for us as fathers to guide them on the right track in life, so that their lives do not become a shipwreck on the rocky shores of life. Even the best hopes of fathers can be lost if they are not provided with the right resources and wisdom to guide their children.
Have you ever played Chinese whispers? It's a game where you line up about ten people in a row and whisper a message in the ear of the first person and ask them to pass it on likewise to the second and so on. By the time the message reaches the tenth person it is often very funny to see how the original message has been changed.
This concept shows that it is very possible to lose some or even much of a message throughout the process of time. The message that we as fathers pass to our children, they must then pass to their children, who will also pass to their children.
How important is it then to have a written record such as the Bible so that sound fathering principles can be confidently passed on to each successive generation, and to also have the Author of those words watching over us and ready to help in time of need.
How do you rate as a Great Dad?
Try our 2 minute online survey
Dads' UNI can also assist you in continuing to develop your own fathering style through a Free subscription that emails you a Fathering Tip each week.