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The Answer to America’s Problems - More Fathers Less Government
4 Ways a Father Can Be a Provider
“If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8
The Bible is clear that a godly father accepts his responsibility to be a provider for his family. Decent men embrace this responsibility as an honor rather than a horror. Therefore, it is important for us dads to consider these 4 practical ways that a father can be a provider.
A godly father provides for the spiritual needs of his children. This is a dad who can be found reading the Bible with his kids, praying with them, and answering their questions. Although mom, a church Sunday school teacher, or a youth pastor might help train the child, the father holds primary responsibility. In Ephesians 6:4 we read, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
A godly father provides for the physical needs of his children. This point may seem obvious to some, but is apparently lost in our culture where children are more likely to live in poverty than adults. Before sin even entered the world, Genesis 2:15 says that “the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Work is an act of worship, and men are supposed to work and provide for their families.
A godly father provides for the relational needs of his children. A wise father brings his children into a healthy church community. In the New Testament, Paul often uses the metaphor that the church is a family by spiritual, rather than physical, birth. This web of relationships should support the parents in their task of training and cultivating their children in the Lord. Proverbs teaches that a wise father selects his friends carefully. Proverbs 12:26 says that “the righteous chooses his friends carefully.” Additionally, Proverbs 27:10 says, “Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.” Godly friends of all ages who love God and live righteously are wonderful influences upon a child..." from the article: 4 Ways a Father Can Be a Provider
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