Becoming the Father you have always wanted to be
What type of father do you want to be?
Assignment:
Go into the future. Your children and the people in your life are 20 years older.
Write your children’s names and ages in the year 2018. (You can also write your spouse or if you are single write the names of some important people in your life)
______
A wise man can go into the future to predict rain, wind and floods and so he builds his house accordingly.
“Therefore whoever hears these saying of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to be a wise man who built his house on a rock: “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” Matthew 7: 24-25
Questions to ask ourselves:
- If I stay to the path that I am on, what desirable character traits will they say I have in my life?
______
- If I stay to the path that I am on, what undesirable character traits will they say affected my relationship with them?
______
- What do I want them to say about me?
______
Assignment for Home:
Let us take more time to examine our selves more thoroughly. Good things in life take time. (Psalm 26, Lamentations 3:40, 1 Corinthians 11:28 and Galatians 6:4).
Here are some areas we could look. What would our children or the people in our lives say about us in the following:
Our relationship with God?
______
Our relationship with our self. Do I love and take care of my self? My mind? My body? My soul?
______
What is my prayer life like. What would my children say about my prayers? Did I pray for what was important to me? Was I sporadic in prayer or was their a definite pattern?
______
How did I express my love to them? How would they know that I loved them? What would each of them say?
______
What was my relationship like with the Church?
______
Did they see me worship and how did it affect their relationship with God?
______
How merciful was I as a father?
______
Did I extend grace to my children?
______
What would they say about forgiveness in my life? Did I ever ask for their forgiveness? Did I forgive them?
______
How compassionate was I?
______
What were my work habits like?
______
What would they say about my career and how it affected them?
______
What were my TV habits like?
______
What were my alcohol habits?
______
What would they say about affection and how I demonstrated my love to them? ______
What would they say about the role of play? What was the most fun thing I did with them over the past 20 years?
______
How competitive was I? How did it affect them?
______
What would they say about friendships in my life? Did I have any? Were they long term? Could I ask for help.
______
Note: Your children will model after your life. Without saying a word they will pick up both positive and negative. This is good and bad news. Sorry, it is the way it is. The better news is that we have a living relationship with a Savior who is willing to change us—if we want it. So don’t try to change you children. Allow God to change us.
What would they say about how we treated our parents? (How we treat their grandparents is most likely how they will treat us)
______
What would they say about how we treated their mothers?
______
______
What would they say about how we used “respect” in our lives?
______
What would they say about our respect for authority?
______
Would they say that I was fun?
______
Would they say that I spent enough time with them?
______
Would they say that I was easy-going? up-tight? nervous?
______
What would they say about my relationship with money? with bills? with giving?
______
Would they say that I was courageous?
______
Would they say that I had fears? What do you think they would think your fears would be?
______
How did I handle stress?
______
Was self-control operating in my life?
______
What would they say about my choices of discipline? Did they think it was effective? What would each child say?
______
What about my anger? When did I show it? How did I show it?
______
This list is just the beginning. I hope it will be useful to developing a life long pattern of examining and allowing God do finish and complete a work in us.
Psalm 127
Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
to sit up late,
To each the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like the arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Copyright © 2004 "Copyright © 2000 Erik Bohlin, M.A., P.S. All Rights Reserved.
1