Children are a delight from the Lord and loving them seems so natural, yet it can be hard to meet the call given throughout God’s Word.
Parenting is an extreme adventure that reveals much about the parent. Seeing my wife parent has been phenomenal, as I have seen her greatest attributes shine, a constant reminder of why I fell in love with her from the beginning. My calling here is to be a Dad, and not in name alone. I have to realize moment-by-moment that how I love my daughters is going to largely mold their image and reality of God. The longer I’m in vocational ministry and relate to others who are hurting and lost I see that their view of God is largely affected upon their relationship with their Dad. Combine this experience with God’s Word and this translates to me the responsibility of loving my children and educating them. It takes it to the highest level. Displaying the full character of God is impossible, and just displaying an image of that character is plenty difficult enough. But it’s a challenge worth every ounce of my effort. The connection between the fatherhood of God and Dad helps me maintain focus, even when I’m frustrated, leaning toward slothfulness, or giving in for the sake of my own comfort. I remember that being a Father isn’t about the path of least resistance and that doing the hard work of loving daughters even when it hurts is for their good.
Assessing this calling is a bit more difficult; I can’t simply ask them how I’m doing. So I assess them by the way they understand, talk, and act, while balancing those things against the reality that they still have fallen natures of sin. I don’t expect sinlessness from my kids, but I do expect them to grow in knowledge of God, of their own sin, and their need for grace. That is largely my responsibility and to nurture these things within them. With God leading I look forward to the day when they obtain faith and turn to Him, their greatest Father. I always want to point them to that end.
