Fathering Like the Father
Now that German class is over, I've had a bit more free time for reading and such. Just last night I was perusing a book entitled Fathering Like the Father by Kenneth and Jeffrey Gangel (a father-and-son co-authoring team).
While I found some parts of the book to be less-helpful (such as the chapter on God's sense of humor), I really like the overall premise of the book--namely, that as a human father, I can look to my heavenly Father as the ultimate example of perfect parenting. Thus, my parenting should reflect the communicable attributes of God Himself--such as His mercy, grace, patience, righteousness, justice, and forgiveness.
The authors really bring this point home by noting that, especially for younger kids, children's view of God is heavily influenced by their view of their earthly fathers. Wow, what a responsibility!--to think that the understanding my kids have of their heavenly Father will be directly affected by the kind of relationship they have with me. (It will either be something that helps them rightly understand who God is, or it will be something they must overcome in order to rightly understand who God is.)
If I am legalistic, irrational, overbearing, or totaliterian...it will be hard for my children not to see God in the same way. If I am (on the other extreme) too soft on sin, easily manipulated, or a push-over, my kids will likely see God as being similar. Or if I am never home, distant, callous, and uncaring, perhaps they will view God like that. Of course, none of these is an accurate reflection of who God really is.
But if I am marked by consistency and grace, what a testimony it will be to my kids of the holy and merciful Father who saved me from the kingdom of darkness and transferred me to the kingdom of light. Obviously, my parenting won't be perfect...as God's is. But I can reinforce a biblical understanding of God's character when I exemplify godliness in my home.
Thus, my prayer is that, by God's grace, I would be the kind of dad who rightly reflects my Father in heaven.
While I found some parts of the book to be less-helpful (such as the chapter on God's sense of humor), I really like the overall premise of the book--namely, that as a human father, I can look to my heavenly Father as the ultimate example of perfect parenting. Thus, my parenting should reflect the communicable attributes of God Himself--such as His mercy, grace, patience, righteousness, justice, and forgiveness.
The authors really bring this point home by noting that, especially for younger kids, children's view of God is heavily influenced by their view of their earthly fathers. Wow, what a responsibility!--to think that the understanding my kids have of their heavenly Father will be directly affected by the kind of relationship they have with me. (It will either be something that helps them rightly understand who God is, or it will be something they must overcome in order to rightly understand who God is.)
If I am legalistic, irrational, overbearing, or totaliterian...it will be hard for my children not to see God in the same way. If I am (on the other extreme) too soft on sin, easily manipulated, or a push-over, my kids will likely see God as being similar. Or if I am never home, distant, callous, and uncaring, perhaps they will view God like that. Of course, none of these is an accurate reflection of who God really is.
But if I am marked by consistency and grace, what a testimony it will be to my kids of the holy and merciful Father who saved me from the kingdom of darkness and transferred me to the kingdom of light. Obviously, my parenting won't be perfect...as God's is. But I can reinforce a biblical understanding of God's character when I exemplify godliness in my home.
Thus, my prayer is that, by God's grace, I would be the kind of dad who rightly reflects my Father in heaven.
posted by Nate B. at 8:50 AM
1 Comments:
thanks for the reminder.....
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