FATHER’S DAY SUNDAY HAS COME: THE CELEBRATION OF FATHERLY LOVE AND FATHERHOOD!
“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 of whom the WHOLE FAMILY in heaven and earth is named” Ephesians 3:14-15.
Fatherhood is family, and family entails relationship and fellowship. Fellowship sustains relationship, and relationship is about naturing. Are you a father? Intending to become one? Yes, you can! But know this: any man can be a dad, yet to be a father requires a heartfelt labour of love, a work of faith, and patience of hope. It is lived out through diligence, service, sacrifice, commitment, dedication, tolerance, patience, goodness, compassion, and many such virtues.
Fatherhood is about fellowship that deepens our relationship with God. Adam lost that fellowship of fatherhood with God, and in losing it, he lost the relationship. For us, the redeemed children of God, to actualise scriptural fatherhood, we must think of God in fellowship to enhance relationship – meaning we must think family, where fellowship nurtures relationships. Naturing entails the work of faith, the labour of love, and the patience of hope, bringing a seed to fullness until it becomes a forest, as it is written:
“We give thanks to God ALWAYS for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; 3 remembering without ceasing your WORK OF FAITH, and LABOUR OF LOVE, and PATIENCE OF HOPE in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; 4 knowing, brethren beloved, your ELECTION of God” 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4.
More importantly, being a father is about being the voice of God in the life of a child, as the patriarch Abraham was to his household, affirmed by God in His eternal plan, purpose, and pursuit (Genesis 18:19). To be responsible and accountable to God as a father is far more than material, physical, social, or emotional provision and support. It also involves gracious and graceful spiritual support in these ways:
- As God’s priest – to stand in the gap in prayer before God, and to minister to Him for the family in all things.
- As God’s prophet – to hear from Him on all matters of life and godly living for the family.
- As God’s king – to protect and defend the family from the enemy and his cohorts, safeguarding their good and their goods on earth, in Christ’s stead.
Let me remind you, dear father – and those intending to become one – that any man can be a dad or daddy. But to be a father, in the true tasks of fatherly love and fatherhood, requires heartfelt diligence, service, sacrifice, commitment, and much more. It is about being the voice of God in the life of a child, as the Patriarch Abraham was in his household, whom our Father God commended and affirmed in his fatherly path (Genesis 18:19).
May our God, the Father of all flesh and spirit, father you with enabling grace and wisdom, so that you may faithfully father all that concerns you in fatherhood.
Do have a wonderful and blessed Father’s Day, and a joyful celebration of fatherhood as it comes this Sunday in the UK.
SCRIPTURAL THOUGHTS WORTH PONDERING IN CONTEXT:
“Fathers, do not PROVOKE your children to ANGER [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with DEMANDS that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the DISCIPLINE and INSTRUCTION of the Lord” Ephesians 6:4/Amplified.
“Buy the truth and do not sell it— wisdom, instruction and insight as well. 24 THE FATHER OF A RIGHTEOUS CHILD HAS GREAT JOY; A MAN WHO FATHERS A WISE SON REJOICES IN HIM. 25 May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful” Proverbs 23:23-25.
“As a FATHER has COMPASSION on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him” Psalms 103:13.
“For I know him, that he will TEACH and COMMAND his children and household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do what is JUST and RIGHTEOUS that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has SPOKEN and PROMISED him” Genesis 18:19.
“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 of whom the WHOLE FAMILY in heaven and earth is named” Ephesians 3:15-15.
“Fathers, do not PROVOKE or IRRITATE or EXASPERATE your children [with DEMANDS that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by favoritism or indifference; treat them tenderly with lovingkindness], so they will not lose heart and become discouraged or unmotivated [with their spirits broken]” Colossians 3:21/Amplified.
SUMMARY
This message is on FATHER’S DAY: THE MEANING OF FATHERLY LOVE AND FATHERHOOD — that true fatherhood is a divine calling of relationship, fellowship, and responsibility patterned after God the Father.
KEY POINTS:
- THE FOUNDATION OF FATHERHOOD IS GOD
Ephesians 3:14-15 — “Of whom the WHOLE FAMILY in heaven and earth is named.”
Fatherhood begins with God. He is the Father of all flesh and spirit. Family is built on relationship, and relationship is sustained by fellowship. Adam lost fatherhood when he lost fellowship with God. For us to actualise scriptural fatherhood, we must return to thinking “family” — where fellowship nurtures relationship. - THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DAD AND A FATHER
Any man canbe a dad. But to be a FATHER requires:
A work of faith, a labour of love, and patience of hope 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4.
It is expressed through diligence, service, sacrifice, commitment, compassion, tolerance, and godly virtues.
Fatherhood is not just provision. It is presence, instruction, and spiritual covering. - THE THREEFOLD ROLE OF A FATHER
Tobe accountable to God, a father must function:
- As God’s PRIEST — to stand in the gap in prayer and minister to God for the family.
- As God’s PROPHET — to hear from God and direct the family in life and godly living.
- As God’s KING — to protect, defend, and safeguard the family and their goods from the enemy. Genesis 18:19
Like Abraham, a father must be the voice of God in the life of his child and household.
- THE BIBLICAL MANDATE FOR FATHERS
Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21 — Fathers are not to provoke, exasperate, or discourage their children, but to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, with lovingkindness and nofavouritism.
Proverbs 23:23-25 — The father of a righteous child has great joy. Wisdom, instruction, and truth must be bought and not sold.
Psalms 103:13 — As a father has compassion, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. - NATURING TO FULNESS
Naturing is the process of bringing a seed to a forest. It requires consistency, faith, love, and hope until what God has placed in a child comes to fulness. Election, calling, and purpose are nurtured in the atmosphere of fatherhood.
CALL TO ACTION:
TO ALL FATHERS AND THOSE INTENDING TO BECOME ONE:
- Choose Fellowship First — Deepen your relationship with God the Father. Out of that fellowship flows true fatherhood.
- Embrace Responsibility — Be the priest, prophet, and king over your home. Pray, hear God, and protect.
- Nurture with Love — Father with compassion, instruction, and patience. Do not provoke but build up.
- Live the Example — Let your life be a work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope that your children can imitate.
May God the Father of all, father you with enabling grace and wisdom, so that you may faithfully father all that concerns you.
REV. CHUKIE MORSI