This World Needs Fathers

1 Timothy 3:1-4

1If any of you  aspires to be an overseer  in the church; you have set your heart toward a noble ambition, for the word is true!

 2Yet an elder needs to be one who is without blame before others.

He should be one whose heart is for his wife alone and not another woman.  He should be recognized as one who is sensible, and well-behaved, and living a disciplined life. He should be a “spiritual shepherd” who has the gift of teaching,  and is known for his hospitality.

3He cannot be a drunkard, or someone who lashes out at others,  or argumentative, or someone who simply craves more money,  but instead, recognized by his gentleness.

4His heart should be set on guiding his household with wisdom and dignity;  bringing up his children to worship with devotion and purity. 5For if he’s unable to properly lead his own household well, how could he properly lead God’s household?

The biggest epidemic in America in my opinion is the fatherless households. Research has proven that a household without a father has great detrimental impact to the overall wellbeing of the family. Single moms are more likely to live in poverty, adolescences are more likely to use drugs and alcohol, gang affiliation, engage in fornication resulting in teenage pregnancies, decline in academics and less likely to graduate from high school. This should break our hearts and give us a desire to fight for flourishing families. Families are barely surviving, nearly 70 percent of marriages are ending in divorce in America. The reality is you can maintain a marriage and beat statistics, or you can aim even higher and have a godly marriage that defeats the possibility of becoming a statistic. Ecclesiastes sates, "that a three braided cord is not easily broken", this symbolizes the strength of a husband wife with God centered (Ecclesiastes 4:12). My husband and I have both walked through divorces. We wish it upon no one. However, there are so many life lessons we learned God must be our foundation. Being single for 7 years, prior to meeting Justin, I was on pursuit to learn what it takes to have a successful marriage and family. I pursued a bachelor's in Christian psychology emphasizing in Family and Theology the study of Scripture. In my pursuit of truth, God's word made it clear that marriage is so sacred. God delights in the family unit. He designed marriage to look like Jesus the bridegroom, and the church as the bride. All throughout scripture, we read about the agape "unconditional" love God has for his church the bride. God is relentless to pursue the church with a desire to love, protect, provide, and sustain her.

Husbands are called to be the head of the household, it's a holy calling to lead the home. This leadership flourishes when the husbands lead from a servant's heart and who choose to become the "spiritual shepherd" of his home. A spiritual shepherd cares for his flock, not only physically but spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. A spiritual father provides his flock with a covering. His devotion to Christ and his family releases the favor of God and generational blessing through his obedience and sacrifice.

 In Ephesians , Paul writes about relationships, "

21And out of your reverence for Christ be supportive of each other in love. 22For wives, this means being devoted to your husbands like you are tenderly devoted to our Lord, 23for the husband provides leadership for the wife, just as Christ provides leadership for his church, as the Savior and Reviver of the body. 24In the same way the church is devoted to Christ, let the wives be devoted to their husbands in everything.

25And to the husbands, you are to demonstrate love for your wives with the same tender devotion that Christ demonstrated to us, his bride.  For he died for us, sacrificing himself 26to make us holy and pure, cleansing us through the showering of the pure water of the Word of God. 27All that he does in us is designed to make us a mature church for his pleasure, until we become a source of praise to him—glorious and radiant,  beautiful and holy, without fault or flaw. 

28Husbands have the obligation of loving and caring for their wives the same way they love and care for their own bodies, for to love your wife is to love your own self. 29No one abuses his own body, but pampers it—serving and satisfying its needs. That’s exactly what Christ does for his church! 30He serves and satisfies us  as members of his body.

Fathers have the opportunity to lead children to "The Father God" not by words alone but by action and communication. Children are like sponges, the soak up the environment around them. They pick up what they see. They are influenced very easily. When a father loves his wife, he is demonstrating godliness and providing and example of a healthy relationship. When a father disciplines out of love he is setting a standard of morals, and values that will add virtue and character to the child. In Proverbs 3:12 (TPT), it states ,"For the Father’s discipline comes only from his passionate love and pleasure for you. Even when it seems like his correction is harsh, it’s still better than any father on earth gives to his child." In Hebrews 12:7 (TPT) it states, "Fully embrace God’s correction as part of your training, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children. For who has ever heard of a child who never had to be corrected?"

Fathers can empower and encourage their children to develop good character through demonstration. As children are spiritually guided and nurtured by their parents, they can beat the odds that are against them. Fathers we need you. Your role is irreplaceable. Take you position! Heaven is cheering you on.!