FATHERS AS HOPE BUILDERS

“Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged” – Colossians 3:21

God, our heavenly Father and Model of Fatherhood, calls all FATHERS as HOPE BUILDERS: “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged” (Col.3:21). An earlier verse hinted on the Fatherhood of God: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to GOD the FATHER through Him” (v.17). Paul also wrote to the Ephesians: “One God and FATHER of ALL, who is above all, and through all, and in you all…And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph.4:6; 6:4).

GOD chose to reveal Himself in the language of Family and Fatherhood. He actually pledges to fill the role of Father when earthly fathers are absent, insolent or gone: “A father of the fatherless...defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation” (Psa.68:5). The Lord Jesus taught us to address God as Father: “In this manner, therefore, pray: OUR FATHER in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Mt.6:9; Lk.11:2). He is a responsive and responsible Father: “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mt.5:45).

Actively however, God is the Father only of those who are led by the Spirit of His Son: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “ABBA, FATHER” (Rom.8:14-15). Specifically, God assures Followers of Christ: “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters” (2Cor.6:18a).

Our meditation text is in three parts: the address “Fathers”; the command, “Do not provoke your children”; and, purpose of the command, “Lest they become discouraged.” The goal of Christian fathers is to rear HOPEFUL children. To be discouraged is to lose heart; be listless, spiritless, disinterested, moody, sullen, or resigned toward life. The opposite is: to be hopeful, happy, confident and courageous. That’s what our fatherhood style should produce! We should give our children Hope in God; not in education, money, wealth, popularity, or earthly success. We should fill their hearts with Joy in God; and make them courageous and God-confident, by building their Hope in God.

Parents possess tremendous authority and responsibility under God: “Children, obey your parents in ALL THINGS, for this is well pleasing to the Lord” (v.20). However, fathers are warned against the misuse of legitimate authority that could break the spirit or ruin a child’s confidence in God, as to become hopeless and discouraged.

First, fathers should be happy, confident, and hopeful in God! The best strategy for rearing children is to become a new man in Christ – whose Hope and confidence are in God, not in self or “things”! All human fatherhood should be patterned on God’s Fatherhood. As parents, we should each ask ourselves: Who am I before the living God and before my children?

Second, fathers’ discipline of children should not be erratic, hostile, and impulsive, as to make them bitter, deceitful, discouraged, fearful, and manoeuvring. When discipline is appropriate, consistent, and based on godly rules and principles of justice in the home, an atmosphere is created where children flourish in freedom. They gain confidence that this is the way God is. He is not capricious, erratic, or impulsive. There is justice tempered with mercy; hope and encouragement.

Children should see in their fathers a reflection – though imperfect – of God the Father. Every human father is to be for his children an image of the Father in heaven, so that our children can know Him and become hopeful and confident in Him. Mothers and fathers have a shared authority over the children, but fathers bear a special responsibility for the family’s moral life. It’s time to take that responsibility, and be the family’s Hope Builder, having found that Hope in God! Enjoy a Blessed and Fulfilling Father’s Day!