Christian Bible Lesson 126: Be A Good Father

Bible Verses

“Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” – Colossians 3:21

“Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching” – Proverbs 1:8

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it..” – Proverbs 22-6

“I will be a father to him, and he’ll be a son to me. When he does wrong, I’ll discipline him in the usual ways, the pitfalls and obstacles of this mortal life. But I’ll never remove my gracious love from him.” – Samuel 7:14-15

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

Being a father is a challenging role.  A good father expresses love to his children at all times, even when his child needs discipline.  It is important when you are disciplining your child to communicate that you are helping them become a good person. 

It is critical for a father to set an example of living a Christian life.  Of course, it is important for a father to obey the commandments, but beyond that, a father should display to his children a concern for people in need.  Being open about donating to special causes so your children are aware of your concern for other people.

However, it is vital to be openly generous to relatives and friends so your children can learn how to contribute to the people around them.  Contributions are much more than donating money to a common cause.  You can contribute with your time, special skill, and resources.  Set the example and others may follow.

You do need to discipline your children, especially when they are young.  However, it is critical to express the reason for the discipline and to express the point you wish to teach.  Just disciplining your children when they misbehave is only half of your responsibility.  If the child does not understand the benefit of living a solid Christian life, discipline will not be nearly as effective and the child will continue to misbehave. It is critical to set an example of how to live. Focussing too much on money, prestige, or possessions can set the wrong example for your children.

Focus on helping your children to develop into a person who works to pay their own way helps those around them, and has goals to live a full life regardless of wealth.  One very important point is for the father to set a good example.  To be honest, help others, and work to improve life for everyone.

Christian Bible Lesson for Today

Walter is married and has three children, two girls ages twelve and six, and his boy is ten years old.  He is a manager at a real estate company.  His wife works part-time as a teacher’s aide. 

The family goes to church together weekly.  Walter’s wife volunteers for many of the church functions and works with the neighbors to provide guidance and support for all the children in the neighborhood, but Walter’s focus is on his work.  Because Walter works long hours, his wife supervises the children most of the time.

Walter believes that since his wife only works part-time, she should be the one to supervise the children and work with the neighbors.  He feels that earning the living for the family is his obligation and the children can learn from their mother.

Walter’s son, Mark, started missing some of the church activities and the neighborhood fundraising his mother organized.  He felt that his father focused on earning money and that is what he should do.  He continued to find excuses to miss family activities and spend time with a couple of friends from his school.   

Unfortunately, Mark’s friends from school were not a good influence on him.  Mark wanted to earn money like his father.  His friends wanted money so they could buy things.  One of his friends from school knew about a booth that was set up at the school.  The booth had a cash register with money in it.  The friend knew where the key to the booth was kept.  He talked all the boys including Mark into staying late after school and waiting until all the teachers and janitors left.  Then they would get the key and take the money from the cash register in the booth.

Mark thought about it and decided he wanted to be like his father and focus on accumulating money.  He did not think about how wrong it was to take money that did not belong to him.

Unfortunately for Mark, the principal of the school worked late the night they planned to take the money.  They were caught with the money.  They were taken to the police station and their parents were notified. 

Walter and his wife immediately rushed to be with their son.  Walter could not believe his son stole money.  When he asked Mark why this happened, Mark said he wanted to be like his father and focus on money.

Walter immediately realized that his children were much more important than accumulating more wealth.  He knew his wife was very good at supervising the children, but he also learned from this incident that he must set a good example.  Spending all his spare time working for money was not the example he desired.  He realized that raising the children was as much his responsibility as his wife.  It did not matter how well his wife supervised the children, if he set the wrong example, the children were in danger of not learning how to live a righteous life.

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

It is critical for a father to be a strong role model for his children.  It does not matter if the mother is willing to do most of the supervision, the father still must set a solid example.  Being a strong father to your children is much more important than generating wealth.  This does not mean that a father does not work hard to support the family.  It means that the father is careful about the example he sets for his children.

It is important to remember that setting an example regarding how to live is as important as supervising your children’s daily activities.