A Father's Love

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

I chose to open with the most well known scripture for one reason in particular: that as fathers, we must know how loved we are so that we can then love our children the same. God our Father loved EVERY SINGLE ONE of us so much, that He sent Christ to die in our place once and for all. Our debt was paid in full on Calvary, now we must accept His love with our hearts wide open. For some of us, that may be hard. Although single dads yourselves, many of you (myself included) came from a home without a father. It's hard to grasp the concept of an “Abba” Father- one who loves us unconditionally, and will never leave or abandon us. (Deut. 31:8; Josh 1:5) Once we've accepted the fact God loves us enough to send Jesus to die in our place, we move onto another level- laying our lives down for our children. “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1John 3:16) As followers of Christ, and as fathers- our children are relying on us nowadays more than ever. Kids are screaming for attention in so many ways, and often the cries go unheard. They are acting out through a variety of disastrous methods, sometimes hurting themselves or others. A loving word, hug, or act from dad will mean more to a child than we could ever know. Even at 34 years old, I would absolutely be floored with emotions to hear the words “I love you” or “I'm proud of you” come from my dad. It's never too late dad- tell your kids what they mean to you. Get involved in their lives. Find out where their interests are and where their dreams can take them. If you do these things and keep Jesus as your ultimate example, love God with everything you got, and listen to what your kids are saying- you will become more of a father than you ever thought you were capable of. I know, because that's what happened to me.