An Average Christian Dad

Being a Father Can Be Both Exhilarating and Exhausting

As a husband and father of 7, life can be quite amazing, full of joy, happiness, gumdrops, lollipops, unicorns, and butterflies; until it isn’t. Tantrums, arguments, yelling, siblings smacking siblings, seismic outbursts in public that would make the most hardened criminal blush. Yes, the joys of being a dad are real and the circus train exists not far behind.

I’m nothing but a mere man, and some days I’m an average dad at best. Yet, God in all His wisdom knew that I was up to the challenge that He entrusted me with these awesome yet crazy human beings.

There are nights I lay my head on my pillow with pride for being the perfect example to my children. Other nights, I find myself exhausted while replaying the day’s events and what I could have done differently. Like a coach watching game tapes after a win or loss, I get to rewatch how the day played out in my head as to what went great and what a failure I was in the last two minutes when I should have been at my best.

We Will Face Challenges and Opportunities to Improve

Life as a dad has its many challenges and thankfully there are plenty of opportunities for improvement. There are areas that I feel confident that I am excelling in, and in other areas not as much. Being a dad can be a very humbling experience. It is impossible to be a dad without experiencing humiliation. “Oh boy, I blew it!” “I should have kept my mouth shut!” “Why did I react in such a mean way?” “This is not who I am, yet I raised my voice once again.” These are just some of the things we may tell ourselves when we fail to be our best selves, often accompanied by self-defeating statements.

We can easily rely exclusively on ourselves and out of our own finite resources. However, we do have a better option, a game plan to help us better navigate by not being just a dad in name only, but a great dad. We each need the necessary tools to be the dad that we’ve always wanted to be. When our dad tank is empty, Christ is there to provide us with the needed fuel and direction.

In Our Weakness, Christ Makes Us Strong

The apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

The sooner we recognize our weaknesses and our need for Christ, the sooner we can turn things around for His glory. No longer restricted by our futile attempts, but by an infinite resource that can only be found in Christ.

Yes, mistakes will be made, but we mustn’t give up. Learning to have a willingness to humble ourselves to tell our children sorry when we fail, will show our children that we too are human, and we will make mistakes along the way. It isn’t that we continue to make the same mistakes, but we learn from such mistakes move forward in truth, and strive to be a better father.

Learn, Grow, Finish Strong

As men of God, we are imperfect people in an imperfect world, seeking Christ to be the best dad that we can be. It’s not how we start, but how we finish. We are given many opportunities to do a better job and finish strong thanks to the help of Christ. Let’s take time this week to open the Word of God and begin our journey to be a better father, our children are counting on us.