Last month I encouraged all to honor moms and treat them special across Mother’s Day month. This month, the call is out for dads to enjoy the blessings of being a dad or spiritual father to the full. What an honor it is that the Heavenly Father would share the moniker ‘father’ with us earthly dads. Wow! The associated responsibility can be overwhelming.

What should Father’s Day month look like? Start with greeting every dad you run into with, “Happy Father’s Day month to you!” That will solicit a different response than the normal, “How are you doing?” It may open the door for a short discussion around summer plans with family or an update on grown kids. You might conclude with, “Is there anything I can pray about with you?”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” – John 14:5-7. The responsibility every dad is called to step into is to make sure Jesus is known in the home. In talking with His disciples, Jesus provides the relational model dads are to emulate. The charge is to lead in a way that points to Jesus and live in a way that opens the hearts of kids to Him and His Father. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” Do the kids know Jesus and His Father because they know you? That is a relational challenge every dad needs to embrace. My prayer across this Father’s Day month is that you grow in the relational model Jesus provided as He walked this earth. Know your kids, your primary disciples, and be known by them.

Here are some suggestions for this Father’s Day month:

• Make ‘Happy Father’s Day month!’ your standard greeting to other dads;
• Schedule one-on-one time with each child and a date-night with your bride;
• Be encouraged by The Faithful Fathering Podcast – click HERE;
• Accept the Dads Becoming Heroes challenge – click HERE;
• Consider starting a fathering movement in your church – click HERE.

Prayer guide: Thank You for Your word and the example You set in relationship with Your Son. I confess that I prefer doing stuff versus being in relationship. I have fallen short in truly getting to know my kids and have been reticent in letting them get to know me. You know my background is not pretty. Forgive me. I know I need to be real, in an age-appropriate manor, in order to mature in a healthy relationship with my kids. Open my heart, soften my heart and turn my heart to my children. Help me get to know them and to be known by them. And in the process, open their hearts to You. That is the dad You call me to be, and that’s the dad my kids need to see. Amen.

A faithful father knows his kids and is known by them.