By JT Waresak
In this same study, it revealed that Christians, on average, tend to watch more TV than non-Christians. Not only are Christians consuming much of the same entertainment via the TV, they’re taking in more of it on a regular basis. Do we really wonder what’s shaping our lives and the next generation?
As husbands and fathers, we need to go to battle for our wives and daughters by living on the front line with them and help them redefine beauty. With great intentionality, we need to daily communicate a much larger vision of what beauty really means.
Given none of us walk on water, we'll never get it all right. Even the best hitters in the majors only get it right 3 out of 10 times, which means they make "mistakes" 70% of the time they step up to the plate. Arguably the greatest basketball player ever, Michael Jordan, only made 50% of the shots he took. While it's okay to pursue perfection around what we do, we must live within the reality that we'll never be perfect (by the way, that's why we need Jesus). Mistakes and failures will always be a part of our lives. What's important is how we respond to them.
So what does “success” mean to the Christian parent? For me, it’s to raise my kids in a manner that cultivates their hearts for God. The Apostle Paul told the early church to imitate him as he imitates Christ. I believe every parent is called to the same mission. Much of this pursuit comes down to a modeling effect.
As a Christian dad, it's my calling to raise my children in a manner that is consistent with divine and empirical truth. Anything less and I'm compromising one of my greatest objectives in life—to raise my sons and daughters to be godly men and women. Here are 3 truths that I've done my best to live by and instill into the hearts and minds of my children.
If you live in mainstream media and consume the male-bashing commercials and shows, you’d believe that most women “wear the pants” and the majority of guys are more than willing to let them do it. While I agree our men need to collectively step up their pant-wearing efforts, I also believe that most men want to wear the pants and the majority of women out there want them to as well.
As a father, what kind of message do your children see you live out on a daily basis? Your words may say one thing, and your actions may say something else. Find out what you are teaching your children and may not even know it.
There is a simple truth when it comes to doing something consistently well: Make sure you’re taking care of the basics. Being a good dad is no different. Regardless of our past efforts, there are some fundamentals that we can all pursue to help us be better fathers.
Regardless of how long you've been married or the age(s) of your children, God's has positioned you to be a leader for your family. Every day you live, you have a chance to be used by God to impact your wife and children. It's time to suit up and get the job done where it matters most–in our own homes.
To think that God affords us this role as parents is truly an amazing thing. To hold your child's heart means that your child is trusting you to guard and nourish their hearts as God grows them into the young man or woman He wants them to be. Yet, how prepared am I as a dad to have my child's heart?
Wives, don’t let your husbands kid you. Even if a man doesn’t deserve respect or act like he wants it from his wife, it is something he desperately desires. Every man wants to be his wife’s knight in shining armor and needs to know that you value him as a man.
There are a number of things our wives consistently need from us as husbands to make a great and lasting marriage. You would think that after 25 years of marriage I would have these principles embedded within my brain and heart. I don't know if it's a "me-thing" or a "guy-thing," but I still need to be reminded to refocus on these things on a regular basis.
As fathers, we must vow now to put an end to this and raise our boys to become men when they hit their late teen years. If they can father a child and fight for our country, they better be men and not merely boys. We need to show them what real manhood is all about, and we must pursue it with great focus, intensity and passion.
You will likely never hear of this leadership lesson in most schools or textbooks these days. However, it is very likely the most powerful instruction on leadership the world has ever known...
It's not an issue of capability or capacity. It's all about design. God created a man to be first a husband, and if God wills it, a father. Women need not apply nor should they attempt to fulfill a man's fatherhood role.
Let’s face it. The world is running a race filled with endless activities that matter little before God's greater plan for our lives. The end result is this: The mere busyness of life consumes us that we end up missing out on what matters most. It’s like a revolving door that's spinning out of control. The faster we go the harder it is to get out.
While there is no secret ingredient to be a great dad, there are some definite traits that create a life pattern that yields some God-honoring results.
A recent statistic from Covenant Eyes indicated that 93% of boys will view online porn before they reach the age of 18 (62% for girls). While I could easily quote numerous studies that show the life-long destructive effects of porn on men and women, I don’t need to. I’ve personally witnessed enough marriages and families that have been ripped apart by pornography to know how damaging its effects can be. Yet, it doesn’t need to be this way.
We live in a day where respect of others is a dying character trait. Why do we think that bullying and social media rants are so pervasive in our culture today? There's no respect of others. Really, it's just the opposite—most people only think of themselves. Yet, it doesn't need to be this way.
I recently shared with my 21-year-old daughter that there is a good reason why dads need to be involved in this whole process. We don’t care a lick about how cute a guy may be. To be honest, as a dad, I’m somewhat blind to this because I’m not interested in what he looks like. I care most about who he is.
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