God's Idea of a Great Dad | J. Allen Mashburn

In the Bible, we are confronted with many poor examples of fathers.

Those who would fit this bill would be:  Ahab – 1 Kings 22:52; the men of Israel, Psa. 78:8, 78:57, Jer. 9:14. These Scriptures, along with many others, give glaring proof that there are bad fathers all about. In our day, the bad father is not hard to find. They are everywhere. However, finding that man who stands out as an example of what a good father ought to be is a hard animal to track down. About 3,500 years ago, God looked down on Abraham and declared him to be a good father. If a person will take the time to look at the life of Abraham, the reasons for this glowing assessment become abundantly clear. Today, we are going to look at Abraham’s life and see God’s idea of what makes a great father.

By way of introduction, let me say that we live in a day when we need good male role models. It is getting hard for boys to find good, Christian males who are worth looking up to. It seems that men have forgotten what it means to be men. Our society seems determined to blur the line between the roles of men and those of women, but I say we need some real men who are not afraid to be men.

1. Remember when men were men?

2. Remember when you could tell by looking?

3. Remember when men knew who they were, liked how they were, & didn't want to be anything but what they were?

4. Remember when it was the men who boxed & wrestled & bragged about how much they could bench press?

5. Remember when it was the women who wore the makeup, the earrings & the swimsuits?

6. Remember when it was the men who initiated the contact & took the lead in a relationship, made lifelong commitments, treated a woman like a lady, & modeled a masculinity that displayed security & stability?

We need fewer spineless wimps who've never disentangled themselves from mama's apron strings, & more clear-thinking, hard-working, straight-talking men who, while tender, thoughtful, & loving, don't feel the need to ask permission for taking charge. I'm convinced that most single ladies would love to have men like that to spend time with...& most wives long to have men like that to share life with. Children especially like having dads like that.

Our children are looking for men like that!