HAPPY 15TH ANNIVERSARY WOMEN AS SINGLE PARENTS INC.!!!
INSPIRATION FOR JUNE 2018
A FATHER’S LOVE, A FATHER’S LEADING
There is an Old Testament Bible character by the name of Abraham who is known as the Father of the Faithful. This is what the God of the Bible says about Abraham: * “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” This verse is a powerful verse about a man who became the Friend of God and the Father of the Faithful.
No, Abraham was not perfect, but he knew that he wasn’t and felt the need to follow God all the more closely after he messed up. Nevertheless, we know that he was a man who believed in doing that which was right in God’s sight and encouraged his entire household to do the same. Consequently, his entire household, including his servants, loved him. It is said that Sarah, his first wife, honored him by calling him lord. She had great respect for him, which in turn would help her to have respect for the God he served, worshipped and obeyed, and this is how it should be in a household.
It was obvious that Abraham put God first in his life. He was determined to be a perfect example for his family to follow. It was easy to look up to Abraham because of his life and family values that he practiced. His servants looked up to him because he was fair in his dealings with them. In fact, before he fathered a child, he made one of his trusted servants heir to his possessions and he would have inherited all that he had if he remained childless! This servant’s name was Eliezer.
A famous prolific 19th century American Author wrote this: *His reverence and love for God, and his strict obedience in performing His will, gained for him the respect of his servants and neighbors. His godly example and righteous course, united with his faithful instructions to his servants and all his household, led them to fear, love, and reverence the God of Abraham.
When Abraham did indeed father a child with Sarah, and the time was right, he sent Eliezer back to his country where he—Abraham—was born, to find a wife for his son Isaac! Abraham showed his love for Isaac in this way. Not many of us living in Westernized societies would do such a thing, but those who are from the Middle Eastern countries and some of the African and Indian Countries have a similar tradition even today!
However, let us get back to a father’s love and why it differs from a mother’s love. It is true that both a father and a mother should have a compassionate love towards their children; there should also be caring, concern, tenderness, and fairness in a parent’s love for their children, as well as judgment and mercy. Since God has allotted to men the roles of Priest, Judge and Representative of Christ in the home, as well as Provider, it is imperative that the husband and father is a person of good judgment so that he can be fair when he judges issues that crop up among his children.
A father leads in the way he loves his family, and he shows his good and wise example through his love for his family. A mother shows her love by the way she cares for her children and by physically being there in the home for her children. A father’s loving concern helps him to make important decisions for his family that may have far-reaching effects into the future of his family members. Everything a father does shows off his leading and example.
I think about Creation Week and the order in which God created the things He created by speaking them into existence. God created everything that was for Man’s good and benefit before He created Man. This is the example husbands and fathers should take. A man shows his love and care for his wife and family when he goes out of his way to provide a home and all that would benefit his wife and family first before he even looks for a wife! When he does this he is leading in a loving way and is proving to his wife that he is serious about being a husband, a father and a family man!!!
Let us thank God for the husbands and fathers of this world who are serious about being loving leaders and great examples for not just their wives and children to follow, but for everyone with whom their lives touch. May the young men who follow after be inspired to be great examples like Abraham through whom this whole world is blessed because he decided to live, love and lead as God called him to.
*References: Bible Verse Genesis 18:19, KJV
Book: Story of Redemption, page 75, Para 1. Ellen G. White
Copyright © June 2018 by Rosita P. Antonio for WSP Inc.
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