Responsibilities of Fatherhood

There’s an advanced civilization called the realm of the spirit. It’s an invisible realm occupied by extraordinary beings like angels. Humans can’t see into the realm of the spirit because it’s a higher dimension and we are in a lower dimension. We are greatly influenced by what happens in the realm of the spirit. The determinations there decide our fate here on earth.

Some of our sociological concepts here on earth, like fatherhood, are actually borrowed from the realm of the spirit. The idea of fatherhood comes from the realm of the spirit. God the Father had been before earth was created. You are not God’s son because God gave birth to you biologically. You are because he gave you political rights. (John 1:12). Jesus is not the Son of God because God gave birth to him. He was already the Son of God before his incarnation on earth. When the Bible says Jesus is begotten of the Father it is not referring to biological procreation. “I will declare the decree of the Lord: He said to me, you are my Son; this day I declare I have begotten you.” (Psalm 2:7). “Son of God” is a political title. Psalm 2:7 declaring the sonship of Jesus is about the political investiture of Jesus.

The Lord’s Prayer illustrates the fact that “God the Father” is a political title. The Lord’s Prayer is a political petition: “Our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come…”(Matthew 6). When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are invoking the constitutional power of God. If the original idea of fatherhood is political, you’re not conceptually a father for donating sperm to fertilize an egg. You’re a father because you take on the political responsibilities of fatherhood. The Lord’s Prayer teaches the political responsibilities of fatherhood in 8 dimensions (Matthew 6):

The Father has an abode: “Our Father which art in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9)
The Father is respectable: “Hallowed be thy name…” (Matthew 6:9)
The Father has a plan: “Thy kingdom come…” (Matthew 6:9)
The Father has authority: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” (Matthew 6:10)
The Father provides: “Give us this day our daily bread…” (Matthew 6:11)
The Father is compassionate: “And forgive us our debts…” (Matthew 6:12)
The Father engenders responsibility and moral obligatoriness: “Forgive us…even as we forgive those that trespass against us…” (Matthew 6:12)
The Father leads responsibly and protects: “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…” (Matthew 6:13)

From what the Bible teaches on the responsibilities of fatherhood, we know 8 things a good father must do. (Matthew 6):

The Bible teaches that a good father must provide a home for his family.
The Bible teaches that a good father must command respect.
The Bible teaches that a good father must have a plan.
The Bible teaches that a good father must exercise authority.
The Bible teaches that a good father must provide food and take care of the needs of his family.
The Bible teaches that a good father must be compassionate and understanding.
The Bible teaches that a good father must engender responsibility in his children and give them a moral compass.
The Bible teaches that a good father must provide leadership and protect his family.

Fatherhood done wrongly or not at all can lead to issues for children. Failure of fatherhood has left many unhappy and traumatized. Some of us are so angry and we don’t know why. We don’t realize it’s our history from failure of fatherhood traumatizing us. Some of us are fighting dead fathers. How do you fight a dead man? Some of the problems in marriage are problems emanating from experiences relating to failure of fatherhood. We wrongly take out our anger and hurt for our fathers on our spouses, lashing out at them, treating them as surrogates. Some are afraid to show emotions. They camouflage their issue with society’s false definition of manhood. Jesus was a man. And Jesus wept. (John 11:35). A lack of emotions is not the definition of manhood.

Some can’t say, “I love you” to their own family. They grew up under draconian, tyrannical fathers who displayed no love. Some had irresponsible fathers, drunkards who drank away the school fees and family fortune. That’s failure of fatherhood. Some had abusive fathers who turned the home into theatres of violence. That’s failure of fatherhood. Some had fathers or father figures who violated their pubic innocence, sexually assaulted them. That’s failure of fatherhood. And some are filled with shame and rage at the father who raped, and the mother who knew but turned a blind eye.

Some are wounded emotionally but don’t realize they can get healing for those wounds. They don’t even know the wounds exist. When we read the prophecy about the atonement of Jesus in Isaiah 53:5, we must not read it askew and skip verse 4. Isaiah 53:4: “Surely he has borne our griefs, sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses, and carried our sorrows and pains…[verse 5]…he [Jesus] was wounded for our transgression, bruised for our iniquities… and with his stripes we are healed.” BOTH our emotional AND physical wounds are covered by the atonement of Jesus. (Isaiah 53:4-5). When Jesus hung on the cross, all our pains, disappointments, traumas, depression…everything was laid on him. Jesus bore all your burdens so you don’t have to. You CAN receive healing for emotional trauma today.

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If you will like to receive healing from your emotional pain or trauma, please pray this prayer: “Father I have deep emotional wounds from my past. I release them to Jesus who bore ALL pains for MY sake. I acknowledge the perfect healing work of Jesus Christ on the cross for me. (Isaiah 53:4-5). I declare that the hurt and wounds of the past will no longer hinder my present and future. In Jesus name. Amen.”