Reflecting Christ in FatherhoodExemple

Cultivate a shepherd’s heart and use it to teach and inspire your children to do the same: Paul sought to model the truth, and he pointed fellow Christians to his own example. To the Corinthians he wrote, “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ” (1Co 11:1). To the Thessalonians he wrote, “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers” (1Th 2:10). Significantly, Paul’s reference to modeling in 1 Thessalonians is in the very context where he used the “mother-father” metaphors to illustrate his own ministry (see 2:7-8, 11-12). This indicates how much Paul believed that modeling is foundational in the communication process beginning with parent-child relationships. The lesson is clear. If we want our children to love as Christ loved, we must not merely tell them to love as Christ loved. We must also love as Christ loved. If we want them to pray, we must pray. If we want them to be kind to others, we must be kind to others. If we want them to share their faith, we must share our faith. If we want them to read their Bibles, we must read our Bibles. This modeling principle is particularly applicable to fathers. Because God is identified in Scripture as “our heavenly Father”, the only way children comprehend what the invisible God is like is to see God in us.