World’s Best Dad

I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.

2 Corinthians 6:18

IN ONE SENSE it’s true that every person alive today has a father. Excluding Jesus, every human being ever born came into this world because of genetic material contributed by a male parent—a father. Yet it’s also true that a huge (and growing) segment of today’s population has experienced life without the influence of a dad.

This epidemic of fatherlessness is often caused by men who are physically absent from their families. Sadly, there are a number of men who refuse to take responsibility for their actions. And, just as sad, there are a number of men who view “responsibility” as a financial term and use a monthly check to justify physical separation.

There are also many people living in families that are functionally fatherless. In these situations, men remain present in body but are absent in mind and heart. They’ve dedicated themselves to their careers or their hobbies, and they have little time and energy left over for those who need them.

The promise of 2 Corinthians 6:18 is that no person has to settle for a fatherless life. If you love and respect your earthly father, then you can take comfort in knowing that his best characteristics are infinitely magnified by your Father in heaven. And if you don’t know your earthly father—worse, if you know him but wish you didn’t know him—you can find comfort in the promise that the Creator of the universe himself will proudly name you as his son or daughter and love you as his own.