Resolve this new year to grow as a faithful father. Encouraging and equipping dads to father with purpose is what drives us at Faithful Fathering. Certainly, dads have to be purposeful at work to provide for the family. And they have to be purposeful at maintaining good health and well-being. Dads also need to be purposeful at staying engaged in the kids’ studies and relationships.
At Faithful Fathering, the priority is to be purpose-filled. All purposefulness flows out of being filled with the Father’s purpose. That purpose is grounded in the fact that He shares the moniker ‘father’ with us dads. The charge is to emulate the Father in the home. To do that, one must know the Father, and knowing the Father requires reading His book, the Bible.
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. – 1Timothy 4:16. Paul’s charge to Timothy to “watch your life and doctrine closely” is a charge for Timothy to have 100% buy-in to the Lord’s call on his life. The set of beliefs Jesus passes on through Paul is His fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies in His life, death, resurrection and ascension. Jesus is the gate to His Father, to the relationship the Father wanted with man in the Garden of Eden. That doctrine would be quite different than the religious doctrine Timothy was brought up under. A number of years ago, Del Tackett posed a gut-check question in the study called, The Truth Project, “Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?” Timothy got Paul’s teaching, he really believed and was purpose-filled. The charge to dads that want to be purpose-filled in this new year is to read God’s book in its entirety. One of the best methodologies I have employed is to start with the book of Romans and read all the letters through Jude. Then read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and Acts. Then go back to Genesis and read all the way through Revelation. This is not a speed-read and may in fact take longer than a year. But if you will commit to read a chapter or two a day, you will be well on your way to taking your life and doctrine to a new level, and living with purpose to “save both yourself and hearers”, the family you have been blessed with.
Suggested discipline to read the Bible:
Get up 30 minutes earlier or set aside time each day suited for you;
Pray for a quiet heart and mind to hear what the Lord has to say through His word;
Read a chapter or two of Scripture and write down a verse that resonates with you;
Start a journal to log what the Lord puts on your heart each session with Him;
Close with a prayer that His word prepares you well for the day before you.
Prayer guide: Father, thank You for Your word and for being my Father. I confess that I have focused on being purposeful in providing for my family. Beyond that, I simply reacted to circumstances and did my best in my strength. Forgive me. I want to know You and be filled with the purpose You have for me. My desire is to represent You well in family by accepting the saving grace You offer through Your Son, and living into a life and doctrine that closely resembles You. That is the dad You call me to be and that’s the dad my kids need to see. Amen.
A faithful father resolves to be purpose-filled with the life and doctrine of Jesus.
