Father and Children

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

FATHER AND CHILDREN

Eph 6:1-4

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother"-which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."   4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

NIV

Although the preceding instructions regarding the role and responsibility of a husband and wife were an illustration of Christ and the church, Paul also concludes with that additional remark that a husband must love his wife as himself and the wife must respect her husband. Because there is a responsibility in the family structure, it makes sense the children are held accountable to their role, and that is simple enough, obey them in the Lord. Now that can also be seen as us, the children of God being obedient to our Father in Heaven. Paul makes reference to one of the Ten Commandments that says “Honor your father and mother” It does have that promise attached to it, about going well with us and enjoying a long life in the earth. Again, because it does apply to the earthly family, it would be wise for every believer to honor their parents, all throughout their lives, even as we become adults. There is not a time frame included, or a point we no longer should honor them. It does not even speak to whether we think they are worthy of being honored, which in some cases, there are parents who act in a manner that may not be worthy of honor, but that does not excuse the attitude of the child if they are believers. However, as a believing father, we also see we have a responsibility to behave in such a manner that would not exasperate our children. This again makes the case for the authority of the father in the household as this instruction includes it is the responsibility of the father to bring them up and train them in the ways of the Lord. The mother is not mentioned in this area of responsibility. It may be unfortunate that many Christian men have abdicated that responsibility to their wives, not being as involved in the rearing, or bringing up of the children. We can only hope that looking back in the past we fulfilled that responsibility. But we older fathers should assist the younger men to fulfill their role according to scripture. That goes back to having a unity in the faith, building each other up. We can be sure our Father in Heaven does not act in any way to exasperate us, as his children, but then we should also know that we have to not be upset at our Father because of any of his work in our lives, including those times of correction or discipline. He trains us in righteousness, he corrects us, even rebukes us when we are in error. He fulfills the role of father perfectly and thus gives us fathers the perfect example to follow in our human family. It is about the father and children