Superdad or Superdud: The Loving Father

This is #14 in a series of blogs by PJ and Ash on Parenting. This blog looks at how to be a father who loves his kids like his heavenly father loves him.

The best fathers are daily away of how their heavenly loves them…

This is a very important one for fathers. We have got to speak out and live out and regularly reinforce to our children that we love them unconditionally, and nothing will ever change that. This will make them feel completely secure, and secure kids are obedient kids…certainly in the long run!

I have developed this phrase that my three boys know off by heart because we say it so often, especially when we are cuddling or wrestling before their bedtime. It goes like this:

I love you when you are good. I love you when you are naughty. I love you all time.

It is a phrase that they understand and love. Paul Lewis said, ‘a father’s words are like a thermostat that sets the temperature in the house’, and these words will help create a really warm atmosphere. Why not try it on your kids? And when they are naughty I affirm them with this phrase, usually right after I have disciplined them because they need to be reminded that failure is an event not a person.

How many fathers have you got?

This is a little question that I ask my sons. The answer that I have taught them to give is, ‘I have two Dads. An earthly Dad and a heavenly Dad.’ Then I ask, ‘And what is your heavenly Dad like?’ And they reply, ‘Like you but better’. I reply, ‘You got it!’

A father’s role is to give his children identity, and there is nothing more important for them to know than that they are loved unconditionally by two fathers. And, the exciting (scary?!) reality is that they will learn a great deal about their heavenly father by watching us earthly Dads in action. We must be temperate, kind, loving, fair, and full of integrity. We must demonstrate through consistent life-style that God is first in our lives.