Dads, The Heroes We Need Today
Father's Day ought to be Hero's Day - a day when the traditional role of "Dad" is celebrated so the next generation can see it for what it needs to be. It is time for each of us with children to enlist in the "I Want to Be a Dad Who Is a Hero" Campaign.
In generations past, fathers were heroes. Their role was easily defined. Dads provided security for the day and direction for the future; they protected the family from the elements and enemies; and they had the chief responsibility to provide a philosophy of life for the future.
If you listened to many social re-constructionists
you would think that the role of the father is no longer needed.If some government officials had their way,
they would lead us to believe they could take the place of the father figure.
Nothing could be further from our society’s need. There is no research to back up these absurd assumptions. In fact, just the opposite holds true. Many secular researchers have discovered the desperate need for a father figure in the American family.
Did you know that two out of every three children who are currently in our Sheridan House homes come from a single parent household? Or that 59% have little or no contact with their father? Children need a hero living in their home.
The father of the past was a hero because he did what heroes do. He often sacrificed himself for the sake of his wife and children. He was the first line of defense for them. In short, he was undoubtedly the first hero his children observed.
Today’s families desperately need dads who are “Iwo Jima” type heroes. They need fathers who put aside their own needs and desires in order to ensure the long-term needs of their wives and children are met. Families need men willing to sacrifice career promotions because the requisite transfers would detrimentally impact the family’s stability, and thus, the security of their children.
Today’s father must also accept the challenge to be the spiritual leader in his home. Choosing to spend time at the breakfast table each morning and reading the Bible to his children will make a lasting impression on the family. Even though a dad might not have grown up in a home where this was done for him, he can choose to learn. Today’s dad never saw his own father balance a checkbook on-line, but he learned. A hero has to be willing to lead in areas that are foreign because he knows it is the right thing to do.
True heroes do more than lead sacrificially; they set personal examples. Today’s father can be a hero when he...
- Is willing to say, "I was wrong. Will you forgive me?"
- Militantly disciplines his eyes and stops looking at things that are inappropriate.
- Chooses to say, "We will not be doing what everyone else is doing when it’s not biblical."
- Determines to be a role model of forgiveness no matter how painful and difficult it is.
Today's father has the benefit of studying and following the ultimate example of a heroic figure, our Heavenly Father. Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. He made himself nothing; He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. (Philippians 2:5-7 NLT)
We need heroes in the home today. Children will benefit greatly by growing up in homes where heroes do what heroes have always done - sacrifice for the sake of those they love. On behalf of the next generation, it’s time for each of us as fathers to accept the calling of heroic fatherhood.