Diva Zone ™ Magazine DZ 2018 Holiday Issue - E-Magazine | Page 17

2018 Special Holiday Edition I grew up with a love deficiency and spent years longing for that unfulfilled place in my life. I would later find myself as a young teenager looking for love in all the wrong places. I was pregnant at 16 and raising a child with someone who would be­come an invisible father in my child’s life. I am very thankful that empty place of longing for a father has now been filled with the Love of God, and He promised to never leave me, nor forsake me. S basic requirements, but a true father makes sure that the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs are taken care of as well. We need fathers in the home to set the example. That is why FATHERS ARE ORDAINED ince the beginning, the po­sition of a father has been or­dained by God. In the Bible, a father is seen as one that is a male parent, an origina­ tor, one with authority, and a priest. In Genesis 17:4-7, God told Abram, #As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant be­tween Me and you and your descendants after you in their genera­ tions, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descen­dants after you:• Its sounds to me like fathers are an important part in the plan of God. Abram’s original name meant “Exalted Father:” which by definition, is a father that is glorified and highly ranked. God in His unconditional promise changed his name to Abraham which means “Father of Many;’ a direct reflection of his new role. The first qualifier in being a father was that Abraham had to be a man, and through his obedience, God was able to originate generations from his one seed. God’s covenant with Abraham gave him full au­ thority to operate in his position as the father of his household. Out of his obedience, nations would originate, and he would stand as the priest of his household before the Lord. Abraham’s position as “father”would be honored by God and hold true for each generation as an everlasting covenant. Y 17 es, it is true that God has delegated responsibility in raising the children to both parents, and each has his/ her own individual role, that the other cannot and has not been designed to perform. Fathers should be providing for the needs of their children. Most fathers have no problem providing for their children’s material needs, but provision goes well beyond food, clothing and shelter. Don’t get me wrong ... those things are well needed the Word of God says to “train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Our young boys learn to be men from their fathers, how to treat their wives and fam­ ilies, and how to live a success­ful life in the workforce. Fathers teach their girls how to choose an adequate mate and how a man should respond to his wife and children. Solomon told his son in Proverbs 4: 1-4, “Hear, my children, the instruction, of a fa­ther, And give attention to know understanding; For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. When I was my father’s son, Tender and only one in the sight of my mother, He also taught me, and said to me: Let your heart retain my words; Keep my com­ mands, and live.” Solomon recognized that as his father had taught him, it was his responsibility to instruct his son ... one generation instructing another. Fathers, your position is valuable and needed for our children to live out a successful and fulfilled life. You are ordained to help raise and train our next generation. If you are missing in your child’s life, you are missing a reward­ing experience of watching them grow into the im­age that God has called them to be. Fathers ... God loves you, and so does your child. Take the first step ... begin a fresh and new relationship with your child today. The decision is yours and one you will never live to regret.