WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT FATHER’S DAY – BEING A CHRISTIAN FATHER

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Ephesians 6:1-4 KJV

  Father’s Day is a celebration of fathers inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother’s Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting. Father’s Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving, special dinners to fathers, and family oriented activities. The first observance of Father’s Day actually took place in Fairmont, West Virginia on July 5, 1908. It was organized by Mrs. Grace Golden Clayton, who wanted to celebrate the lives of the 210 fathers who had been lost in the Monongah Mining disaster several months earlier in Monongah, West Virginia, on December 6, 1907. It’s possible that Clayton was influenced by the first celebration of Mother’s Day that same year, just a few miles away. Clayton chose the Sunday nearest to the birthday of her recently deceased father. Unfortunately, the day was overshadowed by other events in the city, West Virginia did not officially register the holiday, and it was not celebrated again. All the credit for Father’s Day went to Sonora Dodd from Spokane, who invented independently her own celebration of Father’s Day just two years later, also influenced by Jarvis’ Mother’s Day. Clayton’s celebration was forgotten until 1972, when one of the attendants to the celebration saw Nixon’s proclamation of Father’s Day, and worked to recover its legacy. The celebration is now held every year in the Central United Methodist Church,  the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was torn down in 1922. Fairmont is now promoted as the “Home of the First Father’s Day Service”. A bill to accord national recognition of the holiday was introduced in Congress in 1913. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane to speak in a Father’s Day celebration and wanted to make it official, but Congress resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized. US President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that the day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation. Two earlier attempts to formally recognize the holiday had been defeated by Congress. In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith wrote a proposal accusing Congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while honoring mothers, thus “singling out just one of our two parents”In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972. There are 80 million fathers in America today. Of these, about 1.5 are single fathers. The average number of gifts per dad on Fathers Day is 2.5, with a combined value of $70. Very few dads get more than 10 gifts on Fathers day. Sportswear for men was “invented” in the 1940s. Together with the growing national popularity of Fathers’ Day, it gave mothers “social permission” to dress dad “the way she wanted him to look in her fantasies.” On Fathers Day, 80 million pounds of beef are consumed on picnics and barbecues, and 100 million cards are mailed. Father’s Day is a reflective time when we stop to evaluate and celebrate the role of a father. It is a time to thank our dads and remind them we love them. Whether you are a father seeking instruction from the Bible or a child discovering what the Bible has to say about your role in the relationship with your father the following Bible verses will give you inspiration and guidance Father’s Day and forever. Honor for your Father is an important theme throughout the Bible. The entire Old Testament is based on a patriarchal system. Some father’s are easy to love. Some dad’s seem to be a terrific ideal and it is not difficult to honor them on Father’s Day and throughout their lives. Some father’s are more difficult to love. They may not have been dependable. They may have left when you were young. Perhaps they were in the home, but not there at the same time. Regardless of what your relationship is like with your Father, what he has done, or what he has not done there is an overlying principle in Scripture that our Father is to be honored. Ephesians 6:1-3 KJV   is one of the two verses we turn to by default when speaking of our relationship with our father. Paul’s quote in Ephesians comes directly from the Ten Commandments. In the Bible, “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12 KJV  Honoring your father means to love and respect him. It is not only the right thing to do,  this commandment holds with it the promise that you will live a long life. That alone is a promise I like to stand on and helps overcome the days when honoring my father may be more difficult.  The Bible also says, “Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.” Deuteronomy 6:1-2 KJV  Then you can follow-up with this verse, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV  With this being the greatest commandment in Scripture, you can say the positive part of Ephesians 6:4 is expressed in a comprehensive direction to educate them, bring them up, develop their conduct in all of life by the instruction and admonition of the Lord. This is the process of educating and discipline. The word “admonition” carries the idea of reminding the child of faults constructively and duties responsibilities. The Christian father is really an instrument in God’s hand. The whole process of instruction and discipline must be that which God commands and which He administers, so that His authority should be brought into constant and immediate contact with the mind, heart, and conscience of children. The human father should never present himself as the ultimate authority to determine truth and duty. It is only by making God the teacher and ruler on whose authority everything is done that the goals of education can best be attained. In this verse, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 KJV  Thіѕ іѕ the training of the child or the process οf educating аnd discipline. Also in this scripture, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV  A father’s first responsibility is to acquaint his children with Scripture. The means and methods that fathers may use to teach God’s truth will vary. As the father is faithful in role modeling, what children learn about God will put them in good standing throughout their earthly lives, no matter what they do or where they go. One of the great joys of the ministry is to see men set a Godly example of Love, Loyalty and Leadership and watch their children follow their walk in integrity. One of the great heartaches of the ministry is to watch men make the fatal mistake of not applying these things and face the ruin that follows. I would like to encourage fathers at this point to consider the joy that will come later after you have applied the Love, Loyalty and Leadership to your family. I am sure the fruit of this will be children that respect authority and love their parents. Children that feel secure at home and will actually dread the day they have to leave. Children that will be ready to have a family of their own after the example given to them through life.  Children that can look back on life and say, “I have been blessed, and I want to be a blessing.” Men, more than women, often find it difficult to express deep emotions. This Father’s Day, many men will receive expressions of love, but they may have trouble voicing their love in return. Yet nothing is more masculine than to express love to our loved ones. That’s true not only for fathers but for all of us. We can give no gift more precious to those who are wrapped up with us in the bundle of life. The apostle John wrote, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18 KJV  So let us boldly declare our love, not only for our loved ones but for the One who gave His life for us. So why not open your heart up to Jesus Christ, because He is the One that died on the cross and shed His blood to pay the penalty for your sins so you could have that free gift of eternal life. Amen

By: Jeff Ellinger