As a father, God calls you to be a loving leader. You are not called to be passive—simply sitting on the sidelines. No, you are called to more. You are called to step up and lead by your example.

The dad who raises godly children will serve as a coach to his kids with clear direction, leading them with love, and winning their hearts. Let’s look at what it takes to live out the biblical trait of a leader—leading our families so we raise godly children.

 

“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” —Matthew 6:9-13

 

 

Biblical Trait #3: Leader

Our father please lead us not into temptation…a father is given the leadership role of the home. God put you in the driver’s seat. God says, if a man does not know how to manage and lead his own home, he’s not ready to lead the church.

The strong leader is engaged. He doesn’t fall asleep at the wheel, then expect his family to end up at the right destination—safely and on time.

My dad was a strong leader.

My dad did not have a good father. He struggled to become the good leader we saw in life. But he taught us well. I remember when we were considering making films, Stephen and I, we don’t have degrees in filmmaking. A degree wasn’t available at the time we were attending college. But early on, we were like, “Can we even do this? We’re just used to making silly small videos with our home video camera…”

But our dad was starting a Christian School with nothing. He started a Christian School. When other schools had desks or lockers to give away, he would take them. The school started small. It became 80 students…then 120 students…then before you know it… there are 210 students.

My dad started a Christian School.

My dad started a Christian School that would eventually reach over 650 students. Over the years, as it grew, more kids were graduating and they were going into the military and feeling called to ministry and the medical field and to politics and becoming teachers themselves…I think back to my dad who started with nothing and created a Christian school.

My dad would say…

Dad would say phrases like, “You can eat an elephant if you break it up into bite-sized pieces…” and “Wherever you are, whatever the situation, simply get up and go forward—as fast as you can.”

We always heard these sayings from him when we were growing up. So, by the time it came for us to make films and we didn’t have the funds (or film degrees). Dad would tell us about how he would trust God in building the school. How he would ask for the Lord’s guidance and blessing. He would tell us, “You can pray the same thing.” So that’s what we would do with our films.

Our father influenced what we’re doing today. He led the way. He led us as our pastor in the home. I’m so grateful to my dad. As Christian fathers, you and I must want to lead well for our children. Be the faithful leader in your home. It’s one way to raise godly children.

Find the previous post from the series:
7 Biblical Traits for Raising Godly Children

This is third part of an eight-part series. We believe fatherhood on earth comes from the Fatherhood of God. Think about it: God didn’t look down on something He created and say, “Hey, I think I like that. I think I’m going to call myself, ‘Father.’” No, from the very beginning, He—as the perfect Father—created fatherhood on earth as an introduction to who He is. This series was created from a talk given at the 2022 Fatherhood CoMission Summit. May God bless your fatherhood.