There’s a lack of spiritual fathers in these modern times.  There are plenty of peers doing ministry but not many fathers.  Peers do ministry to affirm themselves more than to establish those they minister to.

Fathers are more concerned with someone discovering their destiny and purpose.  Fathers encourage others in God’s direction for them and rejoice when the person they encourage discovers it.  Fathers also offer necessary correction when appropriate, rooted in the authority that a father walks in.

Fathers aren’t looking for personal affirmation because they already know who they are and their purpose.

When fathering is not understood, someone becoming aware of how much God is for them can be interpreted by others as being self-centered or what some call “too caught up in oneself.”

It might be time to ask:  Is it wrong for someone to see God as a Father who readily and consistently encourages them and seeks to direct them into prosperous kingdom living?

Before Jesus had done anything in the ministry besides being baptized by John the Baptist at the river Jordan, the Father spoke from heaven and declared, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”  Jesus had only taken a very simple step in the right direction.

Jesus had not yet done anything to prove Himself to His Father.  He had not cast out any devils, nor had He healed anyone. He had not even preached a sermon or performed any miracles that we are aware of. He submitted himself to the baptism of John, a baptism of repentance.  Jesus was sinless, so one could ask why He would need to be baptized.  John certainly wrestled with that idea at that moment.  But Jesus explained it to John, and John baptized Him.

Jesus’ Father knew it was important that Jesus be affirmed for who He was before He could embark on what He was called to do.  The Father affirmed His Son right before He would be led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan based on who He was.

Fathers help children understand who they are and bring correction when a child is out of step with who they are.

1Corinthians 4:10 Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. 11 Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. 12 We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. 13 We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment.  14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. 15 For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. 16 So I urge you to imitate me.  17  That’s why I have sent Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go.  18  Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again. 19 But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power. 20 For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.

As a father, Paul patiently instructed a group of believers who were a mess in many ways.  A group that Paul himself had preached the gospel to and had introduced to Christ to start with.  If you read the letter to the Corinthians, you will find how much Paul labored to straighten out their identity and purpose as a father to them.  His reason for doing so was not about how it might sully his reputation; it was about how they were living out of step with who they, indeed, were called to be.  As a father, Paul was not ministering from a place of insecurity that coveted their approval of him.  Paul could lovingly offer them all they needed to hear and have exampled for their benefit instead of his own.

Do you have a father in the faith?  Are you a father to others in the faith?  Fathers are important because encouragement about who God says we are is essential. I encourage you today to be in touch with whom God says you are and let that be the fuel that carries you into a faith-filled adventure with Him.