The Legacy of Fatherhood

Job 2 One of the problems of fatherhood is that it begins without experience. If we have been fortunate enough to have had a godly father who was a model and pattern of what a father and a husband should be then we have some chance of passing that model to our own children. Very often that is not the case. Often, he is abusive, addictive, absent or at best ignorant. What a man has to pass on to his own children is what he has experienced with his own father, what he has seen on television, or what he has been able to glean from the various men that have been in his life. Is it a hopeless situation? Should we give up? I don’t think so! We can’t change what we have experienced or what we have imposed on our children to this point. We can however have an impact on our situation from this time forwards. Bad fatherhood has the tendency to be passed on from generation to generation. We can determine that it will end with our generation. We can with the help of God and godly mentors become men of integrity - men who are who they say they are and do what they say they will do. How much impact will that have on our own children will depend on what we have already instilled into them, what they are able or are willing to see in us and how patiently and prayerfully we present ourselves. Maybe we won’t be able to have any influence on our own children because they are grown and/or won’t listen; but we can have a profound effect on the children around us who have bad fathers or absent fathers. We can learn to be patterns in our character for those who come behind us. Find out what God’s Word says about manhood, fatherhood, godliness, integrity, etc. Seek counsel from those who seem to be a model of biblical fatherhood and manhood. Seek God, ask Him to show you. He will!