Words From Your Father

It is a fact that words in fact can hurt or they can heal.  And words from your father can  do that more than anyone else's.  It is not by chance that God instructed the father's to talk to their children at all times about Him and the mighty things that He had done for them.

What I have found to be true in life, is that there are so many people who have grown up without a father's influence in their lives.  And some of them were with fathers who had not left them.  There are a lot of "absent" fathers in this world, men who are hard workers who provide for their family, but just check out once the cross the threshold of their homes.

And truthfully, these may be the worst kinds of fathers.  What I mean by that is when there is no father present physically, it is easier to deal with the lack of words of affirmation from him.  The lack of good words is still tough, but when you see him sitting there night after night and not engaging you, that is much harder to handle.

I have known many young men in my life who have not had the opportunity to have a father in their lives, and I find that very sad for them.  Mainly because each one of them longs to know their dad, to feel his embrace and needs to know that he is proud of them.  Yet there is one constant in this life that applies to every man no matter whether his father lived in his home or not, and that is the fact that our Heavenly Father God is a father to the fatherless.

What does it mean to be fatherless?  We just celebrated father's day this past Sunday, and I had the chance to think about it, since it was the first father's day in which my children were not at home with me.  Both of them are out living their lives, and walking in the stories that God has written for them from the foundations of the world.  It really didn't bother me either, I'm proud of Micah and April and glad that they are experiencing life.  After all that is what we as fathers are supposed to do?  Train them to go out and take on the world?

What I have found true in my life is that even at 48 years old, I need to hear words of affirmation.  I think it is hard coded into us as humans.  Even Jesus needed to hear from his Father, and as He came up from under the water when John baptized him, He heard these words.  "This is My Son in Whom I am well pleased."  So if the Son of God needed to be affirmed then why do we find it odd that we do too?

This is not to bash fathers, but there are so many of us out there that are still longing to hear those words that Jesus heard.  I know that a lot of dads out there don't really know what to say, or how to say it.  Some are hard on their kids, seeing that as a way of making them tougher and able to handle the challenges that come their way.  Others are just passive and don't say anything, or do anything because they don't want to make waves.  The bottom line is that we all want to hear our fathers tell us that they are pleased with us.

There is a clip from the movie Rocky Balboa that I love.  It is the scene where his son thinks that the idea of Rocky getting back into the boxing ring is going to be bad for the both of them. For the son, mainly because it is going to damage any type of reputation he has.  Click this link to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z5OookwOoY to watch the clip.  But as you watch this clip, I want you to do something.  Instead of just watching it for the sake of watching it, I want you to pretend that Rocky is your Father God, and that you are the son listening to him.  Put yourself into the scene and hear the words of your Father talking to you.  This can be a powerful thing, I know for me it was.

And whether or not your dad lived in the home or not, whether he said good things or bad ones to you, or i he said nothing at all.  Understand that you have a Heavenly Father who loves you, and always has.  He has your best interests in mind, and wants only the best for you.  If you are harboring resentment because of your father's lack of interest in you, then forgive him today.  Holding onto that pain will only hurt you, not him.  Forgive him and begin to move forward today, you'll be glad you did.

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!