Father’s Day is just a couple of days away, and it has me thinking what a great privilege that it is to be a father. But it is also a big responsibility.
We see that responsibility in Ephesians 6:4 when Paul writes, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
I have four daughters that look up to me and call me dad, and it is my job to bring them up in the things of the Lord.
I have 3 main ways that I try to do that.
1. Model it for them.
We can’t bring our children up in something that we aren’t actively living out ourselves.
If you want your children to love Jesus, go to church, and make an impact in the world, then you need to be doing those things and showing them how.
Your children need to see it played out in your life every single day.
2. Hold them accountable.
Someone famously said, “You must inspect what you expect.”
Now the order is important, you can’t hold your kids accountable for things that you aren’t doing yourself.
If you want your children to develop spiritual disciplines, then you have to check up on them and make sure that they are doing them.
If you want them to read their Bibles, serve in church, and tell others about Jesus, then you need to hold them accountable to do so.
And that leads us to the third way to bring them up in the things of the Lord.
3. Family meetings.
One of the greatest ways to make an impact on your children’s lives is through family meetings.
We talk about life, church, relationships, following Jesus, and everything else.
It is in family meetings that I get to model my faith in front of them, and hold them accountable for living it out themselves.
Dads, what are you doing to bring up your kids in the things of God?