Notes on Fatherhood
I can honestly say my views on Father’s Day changed markedly when we started to research educating our children at home. A speaker at our first homeschool convention talked about things that I knew were important but was not hearing from any other source. Things such as fathers stepping up and taking responsibility for overseeing the education of your children (regardless of where they are educated). Fathers stepping up and taking responsibility for the spiritual direction of the family (it is NOT the responsibility of their Bible class teachers). Far too often I am afraid these things are left to our wives to take care of. Yes the mother is to play a vital role butfathers cannot simply abdicate that role because you’re too busy or too tired or just don’t see it as an important responsibility.
Discipline is another area where responsibility rests clearly on the father’s shoulders. (Ephesians 6:4) I have always found this unpleasant but the need nonetheless remains. We have all seen too many children in the general population who lacked proper discipline and behaved accordingly.
In the very last verses of the Old Testament we find the following warning:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”- Malachi 4:5, 6
How very sad this situation sounds. The implication is the hearts of the fathers were not currently turned toward their children. It is not stated to what the fathers hearts were turned, I am sure they had excused themselves from that responsibility based upon their need to spend more time in labors to provide for their families or to entertain themselves by whatever means existed in the centuries before Christ.
As fathers, we can not lose focus in setting a spiritual direction. This is a task which requires serious contemplation and planning. It will not happen by accident and requires not only your time and your talents but your heart as well. The time you invest in leading your family and providing an example can reap tremendous rewards.