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What Kind of Father are You?

For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children.
1 Thessalonians 2:11

The Bible says if you point your children in the right direction “when they’re old they won’t be lost.” (See Proverbs 22:6). Sadly, a Randy Newman song indicates the direction in which his atheist-father pointed him. Listen: “Don’t need no god to comfort me; you taught me not to believe that lie.” Once while visiting a children’s hospital Randy’s father mocked the idea of a compassionate God by pointing to sick kids and saying, “That’s God’s will over there.” No wonder Randy said, “I never had any faith, but there’s no joy being an atheist either.” After studying the lives of prominent atheists here’s what Dr. Paul Vitz discovered: Thomas Hobbes’ dad, a clergyman, abandoned his family. Sigmund Freud believed his father was a sexual pervert. Voltaire fought constantly with his dad and even rejected his last name. Schopenhauer’s father committed suicide when his son was sixteen. Bertrand Russell and Nietzsche each lost their father at age four. Sartre’s father died before he was born, and Camus was a year old when his died. Hitler’s father was a violent man who beat him, his mother, and even the dog. He died when Adolph was fourteen. Stalin’s father also administered brutal beatings. The Bible says, “a father deals with his children, encouraging [them] to live lives worthy of God” because that kind of fathering gives them character, self-worth, a godly example to follow, and the confidence and strength to weather life’s storms. So, what kind of a father are you?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to be an example of YOU – and when I fail, to confess and change – and to always point to you as the ultimate example of a Father. In Jesus’ Name, Amen