Dads don’t need more ties
Trey Williams
One of the most difficult tasks is shopping for Dad, especially when he won’t give away even a little hint. Handmade cards, phone calls and gift cards are great, but the best gift we can give our dads is our love and respect. In the Bible, God gives us three instructions about how to love and respect our dads.
3 Ways to Show Your Dad You Love Him
1. Learn from your father’s correction and instruction.
Proverbs 1:8 says, “Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.”
A father’s discipline stems from love, and the way we show love in return is by respecting and submitting to his authority. Correction is never pleasant at the time, yet those who learn from it experience peace and the approval of their fathers (Hebrews 12:7-11). And as we learn to heed our earthly fathers’ instruction, we learn what it means to heed God’s instruction.
2. Obey your dad because this pleases God.
In a letter to the church in Colossae, Paul writes, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord” (Colossians 3:20).
Obedience is difficult because obedience stems from humbleness. When we learn to obey our fathers (or fatherly figures), this pleases God because He knows we are ultimately learning to obey Him. This is vital in our relationship with our heavenly Father, for obedience shows our love for Him (John 14:23).
3. Honor your father.
When God chose Israel to be His people, He gave them a handful of instructions. Today, we know them as The Ten Commandments. Among those commands is the following instruction: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).
This is easy and natural for some, yet difficult and unimaginable for others. Some have the best dads in the world. Some don’t know their fathers; others wish they didn’t.
When I was 4, my dad packed his bags and left. This clouded my view of a father figure and surely did not help me understand the concept of God as my Father. I reasoned to myself, “How can I honor someone who is not here?” Since I started following Jesus, He has restored and rebuilt our relationship. I have forgiven my dad and am truly learning to honor and respect him as my earthly father.
Relationships between children and their fathers are never perfect. It is difficult for children to humbly accept a fathers’ leadership and authority. Thankfully, God has given us a perfect example of how the father-child relationship should work. When He chose to show His love to this world, He did so through a relationship: a Father-Son relationship. If we want to know how to honor our fathers, we have to study how Jesus honored His Father.
The closer we’re following Jesus’s example, the more likely we are to show our dads the love and respect God calls us to give to them.