The Powerful Influence of a FATHER

The Powerful Influence of a FATHER

The Powerful Influence of a FATHER is a sermon from Deuteronomy 6:1-9. Today is Father’s Day. We celebrate the influence of fathers. The word Father is used 352 times in the New Testament. 266 times it is used to describe God. Fathers are important to God, and they are important people. When you reflect on your family, you can see how good and how bad your father influenced you.

What is our greatest legacy? Investing in our children is the most important investment we ever make, so I want to talk with you about an important verse; then we’ll see how to invest our time in other people, specifically our children and grandchildren.^[1]

If you are a father, the Bible here gives you instruction about how to have a powerful influence on others.^[2]

SIX GREAT QUALITIES ABOUT A FATHER

F: FAITHFUL

“Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey. “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.” (Deuteronomy 6:3–6, CSB)

“Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7, CSB)

Oswald Chambers said:

“Watch where Jesus went. The one dominant note in his life was to do his Father’s will. His is not the way of wisdom or of success, but the way of faithfulness.”

Theodore Roosevelt once said: “It is better to be faithful than famous.”

Faithful fathers are necessary for stable families. Faithful fathers understand and undertake their role in the home as dictated in the Word of God. The moral breakdown in American society is due, in a large measure, to the failure of men to assume their God-ordained roles. There is no adequate substitute in the home for a strong and spiritual father. The father ought to do for his human family what our Heavenly Father does for His family.^[3]

A: AVAILABLE

“Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7, CSB)

Dr. James Dobson has said the following about fathers and the time they spend with their children:

“The average amount of time spent by these middle-class fathers with their small children was thirty-seven seconds per day! Their direct interaction was limited to 2.7 encounters daily, lasting ten to fifteen seconds each! That, so it seems, represents the contribution of fatherhood for millions of America’s children.”

T: TEACHABLE

“These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6–7, CSB)

Fathers are expected to teach their children. Teachers need to be teachable.

H: HUMBLE

“Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all his statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life.” (Deuteronomy 6:2, CSB)

““When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you—a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied,” (Deuteronomy 6:10–11, CSB)

Fathers who are humble follow the wise words of John Bunyan:

(A man) that is down needs fear no fall. He that is low, no pride; He that is humble ever shall have God to be his guide.

E: EXPERIENCED

“These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.” (Deuteronomy 6:6, CSB)

You cannot lead where you have not been. Every map has a reference point. That point must be unmovable to give meaning to the rest of the map. Our relationship to the Lord should be the “Reference Point” in our children’s life.

R: RESPECTABLE – (Deuteronomy 6:2-3)

“Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all his statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life. Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Deuteronomy 6:2–3, CSB)

A father who wants to be honored by his children and grandchildren needs to be respectable.

“Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Do not murder.” (Exodus 20:12–13, CSB)

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land. Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:1–4, CSB)

“Husbands, love your wives and don’t be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they won’t become discouraged. Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.” (Colossians 3:19–22, CSB)

Conclusion

The powerful influence of a father extends beyond when your children are small. If your children are older, I can tell you it’s not too late to do the right thing. Your influence may not be as strong as it would have been years ago, but if there’s breath, there’s influence. Don’t curse the past; seize the day. Take every opportunity to make things right, to start over again. No matter what stage of life we’re in, we can have a significant influence in the spiritual life of others.^[4]

^[1] Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2006 Edition. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), 180.

^[2] Keith Peters, “The Measure of a Man” Deuteronomy 6:1-11, sermon, 9 July 2011, Internet, https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-measure-of-a-man-keith-peters-sermon-on-faith-158555, accessed on 17 June 2022.

^[3] Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2005 Edition. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, n.d.), 180.

^[4] Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2006 Edition. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), 181.

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