Regardless of the age of your kids, you need to throw on the brakes and start spending more “heart to heart” time with them. Even if they’re not re- ceptive initially. Even if trust needs to be rebuilt. Even if your children are grown and gone, your pursuit of their hearts must still go on.
It’s time to turn the corner. To remember that teaching your children to love God cannot happen when you’re not loving them well yourself. It’s time to clear out all the noise and discontent that’s created so much uncomfortable space between you and your children. Here are three powerful rivers that need to be unleashed and allowed to flow freely from your heart to theirs.
ATTENTION
Too many moments at home have found us busy while our children have waited in the shadows. They won’t wait forever. Too often we’ve allowed good things to steal us away from the best things—those priceless, unrecov- erable moments with our kids while they’re growing up. We have a culture of men who ignore and don’t talk to their children. And this needs to change starting now.
We should daily engage them, laugh with them, comfort them, and walk with them throughout life. “Tell me how you are doing.” “What have you been up to lately?” “What are you most excited about right now?” These are ques- tions dads should ask often. We should make it clear to them that they can always come to us and talk about anything.
Some fathers take each of their children out for breakfast for a little one- on-one time with Dad. Daughters love date nights, and sons relish a “Men’s Night Out.” Whether it’s riding bikes together, reading books, playing sports, or sitting at a coffee shop, time out with Dad can open up conversations you wouldn’t usually have at home with your kids.
Brooks Adams, son of Charles Adams, U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain under the Lincoln Administration, was only eight years old when he wrote in his diary one afternoon, “Went fishing with my father; the most glorious day of my life.” Unaware of this, his dad also kept a diary, and he too had marked a comment about that same day and event. “Went fishing with my son; a day wasted.”11
He missed the significance of that day.
How many more days might they have spent together if this father knew how much it meant to his little boy? How many times have we considered it a “waste” to push our kids on the swing at the playground or to bring them
a snack and a kiss on the head while they’re busy doing homework? Yet we find time to watch television, or surf the Web, or whatever else we deem valu- able and necessary to us. We need to look back at Scripture, understand the job God has given us, and redefine the difference between “wasted” time and priceless investments.
AFFIRMATION
Both children and adults want the approval and praise from their dads. They want their father’s “blessing” in their lives. To bless means “to speak well of.” When you bless your children, you are lovingly using your God-giv- en authority to verbally affirm them toward future success.
God told Moses that the high priest should bless the sons of Israel by say- ing, “The LORD bless you, and keep you; the LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24–26). Then God said, “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them” (Numbers 6:27).
When Jesus was baptized, a voice from heaven said, “You are My be- loved Son, in You I am well-pleased” (Mark 1:11). God the Father was pub- licly affirming His Son by speaking love and acceptance over Him. He also invested in Jesus at that moment by sending His Holy Spirit down to Him. This not only encouraged Jesus but set Him up for complete success to do the will of His heavenly Father throughout His earthly ministry.
As you learn to bless your children, this will become a powerful exper- ience for them. It is important that you communicate to them, “You are my son (daughter) and I dearly love you. I am very pleased with you.” You should then follow up by investing in their future. You should pray for them, encour- age them, introduce them to the right people, and give them what they need to help them be successful. Even adult men and women long for their father’s blessing if they never received it growing up.
If you didn’t receive your father’s blessing, then you must discover that men who are surrendered to Jesus Christ share in the blessing Jesus received from His Father. Scripture says we are blessed “in Him” with every spiritu- al blessing and are “accepted and beloved” (Ephesians 1:1–14). Receive this blessing from your heavenly Father by faith, and then model it to your chil- dren. Anytime you greet them or talk to them, your countenance, the look in your eyes, and your tone of voice either says, “You are a delight to me” or “You are an irritation to me.” You should praise them privately, one-on-one, and publicly in front of others. “That is awesome! You are really good at that,”
needs to come from your lips as their biggest cheerleader. Regardless of your past, step up to do this now!
AFFECTION
Our heavenly Father pours out His unconditional love on us (Romans 5:5), and so should we to our sons and daughters. What a tragedy to hear grown men confess that their fathers were never loving or affectionate. Jesus reached out and touched with love. So should we. Whether you received love from your father or not, you need to pour it out affectionately on your kids.
Break this chain. Make sure they know deeply in their hearts that you care for
them. Hug them, kiss them, hold them close. Interact with them in ways that make them fully see, hear, and feel your love.
A child needs not only the discipline of a father but also his warm affec- tion and tender love. When they are little, tickle them, kiss them, wrestle with them, and carry them proudly on your shoulders. As they grow up, don’t stop embracing them and putting your arm around them.
Boys who feel loved by their dads are bolder, stronger, kinder to others, and more secure in their manhood. Girls who feel valued by their dads are more radiant, less desperate for a boyfriend, and more careful whom they marry. So invest in them, take them places, flood them with tender affection, leaving no question in their minds about your genuine love for them. One of the most painful regrets any man has as he ends his life is the love he withheld from others that were close to him. Love now so you can die without this re- gret.
God has given us a powerful and amazing calling to bless our children and grandchildren and to teach them to love Him with all their hearts and lives. But they will not be drawn to believe what we say if we don’t speak it from within the context of a loving relationship with them. Our love touches them deeply and opens their hearts to hear truth and follow their heavenly Father faithfully. Then they will likely pass on our blessing to their kids.
So let’s step up to the plate with a new vision for success. And let’s boldly knock it out of the park for the sake of Christ and many generations to come!
Talk with your kids this week and “bless” them by telling them how much you love them and are proud of them.
MEMORY VERSE
Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways. (Pro- verbs 23:26)
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth. . . . Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.