Dads & God

I heard a lecture in college by Howard Hendricks. He was giving a summary of his book, Teaching to Change Lives, which was a part of our required reading for the course. It's an easy read and worth anyone's time who has to give lectures or prepared speeches as part of their work. My copy is full of underlined pages and notes I've written in the margin.

One of the sentences I underlined and still remember today simply states, "You can't teach what you don't know." He goes on to say that you can't give what you don't have and you can't lead where you haven't been. It's one of those thoughts you wish you had come up with first. It's one of those statements we recognize as truth the first time we hear it.

There are three things I want for my kids: them to follow Jesus, to marry someone godly, and to discover the life God intended for them to live. Pretty basic as far as a Christian dad's wish list goes. As I consider my list, I realize the second two wishes depend on the first. If they aren't following Jesus, they won't marry a godly spouse. If they aren't following Jesus, they'll miss the life God is planning for them. So who's going to teach them to follow Jesus and be godly? Me, I guess. If not me, then who? I'm pretty much it.

So I ask myself how godly I am. I consider whether or not I'm a good enough example of what it means to follow Jesus. Will my daughter be able to recognize a godly man when she sees him? Will my son have the character tools he'll need to determine right from wrong? I start to notice areas of my life in need of improvement that I haven't considered in a long while.

Father's Day gave me a really good chance to re-evaluate the kind of Dad I'm shaping up to be. And I'm thankful that it's not too late to make adjustments. I appreciate God's voice in my heart letting me know where I'm weak. Not because he wants me to feel badly about myself but so that I'll work on that area of my life.

The fact is that I can't lead where I haven't gone and if I want to lead them to be godly, I must be godly first. Dads, be the kind of man you want your son to be and your daughter to marry.