Honor Your Father

Don't stop reading! Some people will read the title of this entry and elect to skip it. I hear them. Dads can be absent, angry, weak, abusive, authoritarian, critical or simply completely distant. And for some of my friends, Father's Day is only a reminder of what they wanted or hoped for or lost; it's also another day that makes us have to process the pain and sometimes scars of childhood.

Others are reminded of lost children (either physically or spiritually). How does one help another to process the pain of a lost child?

On this Father's Day I put forth to you the beauty and joy of honoring our fathers. I disclose to you that I have an amazing father. He loves God and has walked faithfully with him for 40+ years. The changes in his life have been evident as he has continually grown. I have seen him stand up for Scripture in difficult circumstances, I have seen him faithfully love my mom everyday of my life and I have seen him manage difficult circumstances within our family. I have a father who both deserves and his earned my respect and honor.

Likewise, my father-in-law is a man of God. He has given himself to the greater task: not building a kingdom in this world for a season, but building Christ in his wife and children. I have a father-in-law who both deserves and has earned my respect and honor.

But we do not honor our fathers because they deserve or have earned it. He honor our earthly fathers (in joy and in tears) out of obedience to the Lord. And it is that same obedience to the Lord that gives each of us who may become fathers the desire to be honorable in every decision.

To that end, I have paraphrased a portion of Scripture below which you will recognize. It is not a prayer to my earthly father, but a statement from my heart to him about my desire that he be honored.


Dear Dad,

I could never re-pay you for what you've done for me. So I offer you honor. I want your name to be made famous and in the category of "faithful father" around the world. In every area where you follow hard after Christ I am inspired and have been taught to do the same. As your son, I want to accomplish those purposes even more now that I am living life on my own as I did when we lived under the same roof.

Thanks for always supplying everything I needed on a day-to-day basis. Even more than bread, you supplied me an example of forgiving others when you were wronged. I choose to forgive others with that same kind of forgiveness as it reflects the forgiveness which Christ offers those who trust him. I will likewise follow your example in making good choices and avoiding evil.

While I cannot truly re-pay you, I do want to honor you in every way by allowing the story of God's grace in your life to continue in me. May I honor God as you have all the days of my life. While your days and my days in this world are numbered, truly we outlive the sum of our days only as we have devoted ourselves to loving and living God's Word.

Love,

Jon