Fathers need to take a spiritual lead in their family

 October 2009 

One of the things that I have been very aware of in recent years is of the importance of fathers giving a spiritual lead in their families. It is a wonderful thing if the dads can regularly share and pray with their children.

We have a number of families attending our Sunday afternoon family sharing times. These are families that are very busy and yet it has encouraged me to see how well the children are doing their Quiet Times. I feel the key is that their dads also do the Quiet Times and show an interest, regularly sharing with their children.

There is one family in particular that I would like to mention: Steve & Jacqui and their 3 boys, David (13), Luke (10), and Paul (7). Jacqui is blind. Because of this, she can't help the boys with their Quiet Times. Steve, therefore, spends time with the boys, helping them.

What I notice, however, is that I can see the boys developing a love for the Lord and I'm sure that Steve's input is having a powerful effect on them. Boys and young men need their dads to model how they should walk with God.

It is a joy to see Jacqui share her QTs by using Braille. She is also a great blessing to her family and to our group because of the joy of the Lord shining out of her.

It is sad that in recent decades, it has often been women, more than men, who have taken the spiritual lead in families. Many Christian men have abdicated their responsibility of giving a spiritual lead. Instead, it has been left to the women to bring their children up to love God. In the family I was raised in, it was our mother who was the spiritual leader in our home, although Dad was the leader in other ways. I believe that the Lord is greatly pleased with the millions of women around the world who labour on their own to give their children a passion for God.

If you are one such woman who has a passion to bring your children up to love God, then we feel that it's important to try and regularly share with another family or families that are trying to walk with God in this way. Other children can be very influential in the lives of your own children for good or evil.

There may be families attending church who appear to love God, but have very little interest in getting their children close to God. In such families, the children are often into all types of pleasure activities and have little or no passion for Jesus. On the other hand we know a number of families, where the children are passionate in their walk with the Lord. It is such families that you should try and get your children involved with.

I have become aware in recent times of how often the Psalms and the New Testament speak about joy. We are meant to have deep joy in God as we walk with Him.

On Monday, 12th October, our QTs in our family were from Psalm 90. I got verse 14 as the special verse which is this: "Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."

And then I wrote this: "Lord, I want your unfailing love in my life so that I can sing for joy and be glad for the rest of my life. I believe you are saying that if I keep seeking you each morning, then You will fill me with a deep joy. I also feel that you are saying that if my whole family genuinely seeks You, then you will fill us, as a family, with joy. I pray that You will help us to put aside all idolatry in our family life by putting You first."

We have many trials in our family, but increasingly we are trying to make Jesus the main focus of our lives.

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