Stand Strong With Family

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

Ephesians 6:4

MOST MEN THINK THEY’VE GOT a handle on what it means to be a leader in their families: set the rules, enforce the rules, and discipline the rule breakers. But deep down, we all know it’s not always that simple. The same rules don’t work with all children. Some children challenge us beyond anything we can figure out, and that often causes us to lapse into “because I said so” mode or the stern-faced, macho man with no feelings.

But leading a family—encouraging and nurturing your wife, challenging and teaching your children—takes a lot more than being a macho man.

When we’re backed into a corner, it’s a good place to humble ourselves and look at what we may be doing wrong, or at least at what we might do better. For example, author Randy Alcorn, founder of Eternal Perspective Ministries, often shares with audiences a humbling experience he had with one of his daughters at a father/daughter banquet.

Someone at the table asked my youngest daughter, Angela, what I’d done that made the biggest impression on her. I had no idea what she would say, but of course I hoped for something spectacular!

I’ll never forget what she shared because it was so powerful to me. She said, “I remember one time when dad was harsh with me. Then a few minutes later he came back into my room, and he cried and asked my forgiveness. I’ve never forgotten that.”

Alcorn concludes, “Being a good example isn’t limited to doing great and magnificent things. Sometimes it’s when we admit we did wrong.” When we’re wrong, we have to be ready to apologize and ask our children for forgiveness.

BOTTOM LINE

Start looking for ways to demonstrate your strength by showing your humility.

Moment of Strength: 1 Corinthians 13