Your Family: Lesson Two
INTRODUCTION.
A. Every single person should decide what type of spouse they want to marry. They should plan for their future family by picking the right spouse.
B. To help prepare you for a future family, and to help improve the lives of the married, we are engaged in a study of the family and the various responsibilities of the members of the family.
C. In lesson one of our study, we showed the responsibilities of the husband to be:
1. Leave father and mother.
2. Cleave to his wife.
3. Love his wife as himself.
4. Love his wife as Christ loved the church.
5. Give honor and understanding to his wife.
6. Do not be bitter towards his wife.
7. Do not deprive his wife of her needs.
D. In this lesson, we will examine the responsibilities of the father.
I. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FATHER.
A. Rule well his own house. (1 Timothy 3:4,5)
B. Do not provoke your children to wrath.
1. “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)
2. “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” (Colossians 3:21)
a. Do not provoke (exasperate) your child to wrath or anger. Do not treat your child with injustice, needless severity, unfair or unreasonable treatments.
b. Treat your children fairly.
c. Do not show partiality among your children.
d. Make the punishment fit the disobedience. Do not render needless severity or unreasonable methods of discipline.
e. Treat your children fairly and with justice.
f. Explain to your child why they are being disciplined.
C. Teach his children the way of the Lord.
1. “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)
a. Bring them up in the nurture or training of the Lord.
b. Bring them up in the admonition or exhortation of the Lord.
c. Fathers are to teach and encourage their children in the way of the Lord.
2. Consider the pattern taught in Deuteronomy 6:6-9.
a. Teach God’s commands diligently to your children.
b. Talk of God’s commands when you sit in your house.
c. Talk of God’s commands when you walk by the way.
d. Talk of God’s commands when you lie down.
e. Talk of God’s commands when you rise up.
f. Bind God’s commands as a sign on your hand. The commands shall be “as frontlets between your eyes.”
g. Write God’s commands “on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
3. Consider the importance of teaching your children God’s commands. (Deuteronomy 32:46-47)
a. Set your hearts upon the commands of God.
b. Teach your children to carefully observe the commands of God.
c. Obeying God’s commands is your life. It is not a futile thing to obey God’s commands.
4. Proverbs - commands of the Father
a. “My son, hear the instruction of your father, . . .” (1:8)
b. “Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, . . .” (4:1)
c. “My son, keep your father’s command, . . .” (6:20)
D. Discipline his children.
1. A child left to his own will bring shame. (Proverbs 29:15, 17)
2. Discipline your child because you love him. (Proverbs 13:24)
3. Discipline your child while there is hope. (Proverbs 19:18)
4. The rod of correction drives away foolishness. (Proverbs 22:15)
5. Do not withhold correction. (Proverbs 23:13-14)
6. Correct your child so that you can have rest. (Proverbs 29:17)
7. Do not be gullible, naive, or dupe-able.
a. “My child would never . . .”
b. “My child does not lie.”
c. “My child will never be sneaky.”
E. Provide for family.
1. Although the New Testament does not assign the task of providing for the family solely to the husband, there are three different passages which would sure apply to the husband.
a. A man should work so that he would have the means to help others. (Ephesians 4:28)
b. A man should work so that he and his family could eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10)
c. A man should be willing to provide for those of his house, including widows (the context of 1 Timothy 5.) (1 Timothy 5:8)
2. There is no way a lazy man, unwilling to work so that his family may eat, can claim to truly love his own family. This lazy man apparently loves himself more than his own family.
CONCLUSION.
A. Every young man should consider what type of father he will one day be. Will you grow up to marry, have children, and uphold your God given responsibilities?
B. For the married men, how are you doing in your role as a father? If you find yourself falling short of God’s standards, then make the necessary changes today.
C. If you are a married woman, then do what you can to help your husband to be the best father he can possibly be.
D. In the next lesson, we will consider the responsibilities of the wife.
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Your Family: Lesson Two -- February 13, 2005 -- File # 2584 - Home
by John M. Duvall – Lawton, OK