Today is Fathers’ Day, a day when we celebrate our fathers. Since God is described as ‘our Father’, fatherhood is clearly something vitally important. To be a father is more than being a sperm donor. To be a father means modelling selfless love to children, providing security and stability in the home, disciplining and guiding children through the maze of life. This is a daunting job for which there is no training manual and we often expect much from men and offer little support to them.
Today will be a difficult day for many people. Those who have lost their fathers will mourn. Those who have no experience of a father’s love will feel perhaps bitter or resentful. Fathers separated from their children through divorce or conflict will hurt. Children who have no experience of consistency or stability but who live with fear, condemnation and scorn will feel vulnerable. But it’s still right and proper to thank those who daily strive to be good fathers and to share God’s Father-heart for us all.
God’s Father heart towards us means we have a model of fatherhood and an experience of true love. To be loved unconditionally sets us free from condemnation, shame and failure. Our experience as children often shapes our entire lives. When we know the love, discipline and teaching of a good father, we can grow.
No father except God is perfect. But we pause today to thank the fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers in our midst and to pray for fathers in the faith, men who, like Abraham, can model faith, hope and love to us.