To Be A Great Father You Have To Have A Heart For The Father

About a year ago I did a sermon on Ephesians 5:25-31 speaking to a group of men at our church on men loving their wives.  You can download the sermon here.

When thinking about this sermon today one thing came to my mind was that I could not be a great father without having a heart for  the Father.  In looking at Ephesians 5:25 God lays out quite clearly how I am supposed to be as a husband by using Jesus' sacrifice on the cross as my example.  Jesus gave His life for the church. He put everyone else before himself, and died for them.  As a husband I should be dying to myself for my wife in all things.  This teaches my sons that when they marry, their main purpose in the marriage is to put their own lives second to their wives.  What it teaches my daughters is that they should be seeking men that put the needs of my daughters above their own.

In both instances though I could not have taught my kids any of these things if I did not have a heart for God and His Word.  The world does not teach men to put others before themselves.  The world does not teach that men should die to self, and embrace the needs and desires of their wives.  The world does not teach to embrace God and have faith in His Word and let it guide your actions as a husband and father. The world teaches us that as fathers we deserve respect, we deserve to do as we please, we deserve that new sports car, or the ability to have time to ourselves.  The world teaches us fathers that once we bring home a check our job is done.

Jesus' death on the cross provided the salvation for me to live a life for Him.  Jesus' death on the cross taught me how to love my wife as He did the church.  Jesus' death on the cross taught me to give my children the gift of knowing what a godly husband, and father should look like.

No matter what kind of father we had growing up or have now, we can look to our Father's Word and learn from Him what true fatherhood looks like.