A FATHER SHOULD...

Yesterday was Father's Day. It was a time to thank the Lord for the godly father He gave me and reflect on the kind of father I am to my children and the kind I want to be.

Every once in a while you will hear a speech that really inspires you. I heard such a speech...one that I had to have the words to so I could read it often and be reminded of the truths in it. I have added part of the closing speech in the final scene of the movie "Courageous." I didn't come up with these words, but I have fully embraced them. If this doesn't stir and inspire the soul of a father who reads it, there is something wrong.

(Closing speech in the final scene of the movie "Courageous.")

I've asked God to show me, through his word how to be the father that I need to be.

I now believe that God desires for every father to courageously step up and do whatever it takes to be involved in the lives of his children.

But more than just being there or providing for them, he's to walk with them through their lives and be a visual representation of the character of God, their father in heaven.

A father should love his children and seek to win their hearts. He should protect them, discipline them and teach them about God.

He should model how to walk with integrity and treat others with respect and should call out his children to become responsible men and women who live their lives for what matters in eternity.

Some men will hear this and mock it or ignore it. But I tell you that as a father, you are accountable to God for the position of influence he has given you.

You can't fall asleep at the wheel only to wake up one day and realize that your job or your hobbies have no eternal value but the souls of your children do.

Some men will hear this and agree with it but have no resolve to live it out.  lnstead, they will live for themselves and waste the opportunity to leave a godly legacy for the next generation.

But there are some men who, regardless of the mistakes we've made in the past, regardless of what our fathers did not do for us, will give the strength of our arms and the rest of our days to loving God with all that we are and to teach our children to do the same, and, whenever possible, to love and mentor others who have no father in their lives but who desperately need help and direction.

We are inviting any man whose heart is willing and courageous to join us in this resolution.

In my home, the decision has already been made. You don't have to ask who will guide my family, because by God's grace, I will. You don't have to ask who will teach my son to follow Christ, because l will. Who will accept the responsibility of providing and protecting my family? I will.

Who will ask God to break the chain of destructive patterns in my family's history? I will. Who will pray for and bless my children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do? I am their father. I will.

I accept this responsibility, and it is my privilege to embrace it. I want the favor of God and his blessing on my home. Any good man does.

So where are you, men of courage? Where are you, fathers who fear the Lord? It's time to rise up and answer the call that God has given to you and to say, "I will. I will. I will."

 I thank the Lord for putting in the hearts of the Kendrick brothers to make the movie "Courageous." I also thank the Lord for all those He used to bring it to pass. To Him be all glory and honor.

This is the kind of father I have resolved to be. By the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and with the power of the Holy Spirit, I will.