Becoming a Godly Father: Essential Tips for Christian Dads

The best advice Dr. Caldwell can ever give to a man who desires to be a godly father is to live the Christian life at home. If you’d like to learn more about how to do this, consider listening to the following sermons:
The Beautiful Life & Marriage - Part 3: • The Beautiful Life & M...
Foundations for a Godly Family - Part 1: • Foundations For A Godl...
Foundations for a Godly Family - Part 2: • Foundations For A Godl...
The Context for Christian Parenting: • Parenting 101: The Con...
Christian Parenting: • Christian Parenting | ...
The Wrong Answer for Your Child's Greatest Needs: • Parenting 101: The Wro...
A Well Managed Home: • A Well Managed Home | ...
What makes a man a good father? Is it taking his family to church every week? Is it being a hard worker and providing well for his wife and children? Is it sending his children to the best schools, ensuring they get the best education, and helping prepare them for their future vocation? What if a man hasn't been doing these things? What if a man, as a husband and father, has been living his life, just going through the motions, and hasn’t really been an exemplary father? What if he realizes this now and truly desires to be a godly father as he moves forward; how can he do that? What can he do? Join us this week on the Straight Truth Podcast as Dr. Josh Philpot asks Dr. Richard Caldwell what advice he would give to a man who wants to be a godly father and if he would share some guiding principles from the Scriptures to assist him in this endeavor.
Dr. Caldwell says the most important issue for being a good father is to be a believing father. The most important legacy a man will ever leave his children is for them to have a father who really believes in Christ, really believes the Bible, and strives to live his life consistently in submission to that truth. Dr. Caldwell often tells young people he's counseling for marriage that the most important thing they can do for their marriage is to live the Christian life at home. That is the exact same advice he would give a man who wants to be a good and godly father. No matter what mom or anyone else around you is doing, if you want to be a godly father, you have to be applying the Scriptures in your own life, living them out in your thinking, attitudes, words, and choices.
The next step in being a good dad, says Dr. Caldwell, is with your spouse. You want to love their mom, and you want to love her well. This requires you to love her as Christ loves the church. Honor your wife and let your children know how blessed you are. Let them know how thankful you are to God for what He has given you and them in the gift of their mother.
Another aspect of being a good dad is being present. When you come home from work, you need to be present and available to your family. No matter how tired you are when you come home, you need to remember that your wife is most likely tired as well. She needs you, and your children need you. No matter how tired you are when you arrive home, don’t isolate yourself and seek to be alone somewhere to unwind. Be present and active with your children, and seek to spend time with them in conversations. You want to lead them with love from the moment they get up in the morning until they're tucked in bed in the evening. The book of Deuteronomy sets this forth as the model for family life, where the entire day and world become the schoolhouse. But you can’t do that without conversations. To lead with love means you’re putting others before your needs. You can unwind and all the rest when your children have gone to bed.
So you want to be a believing man, which means an obedient man, that begins with your own life. You want to be submissive to the Word of God, growing in the fruit of the Spirit -love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. You must seek the Lord and ask Him, by His grace and the presence of His Spirit as He works in your life, to help you exemplify these things. Live the Christian life at home, love your wife and children, and prioritize their souls. You want to be clear with your children what the most important thing in life is, that what matters most to you is their souls. That’s being a good father.
Another aspect of being a good father is good management of your home. With dignity, you want to keep your home in order. That starts when your children are young, with discipline, rewards for obedience, and punishments for disobedience. This is part of training your children to respect the order of the home with love, mercy, patience, and wisdom. However, no matter how well you do this, even as a believing parent, it does not guarantee believing children; that is not promised. Only God saves, so we pray, evangelize, and model salvation, asking the Lord to regenerate our children in His perfect timing. A godly father will have a massive impact in the home.