Fathering In The Midst Of Covid-19

Since all the fathers have to work from home, this may be a good time for us to spend quantity and quality time with our children. No doubt some of us are financially affected by the situation, we can still make the best use of it and take the courage to change what we can in our relationship with our children.

Mothers don’t need a ‘Mums-For-Life” ministry because they naturally know how to mother their children.

Fathers, however, are not wired that way, especially Asian fathers. If we are not first fathered by the Father, we won’t be able to father like the Father.

I’m not a perfect father, but I’m a growing father. In other words, I’m continually reflecting how I can father the way I am fathered by the Father. At times I missed it. Fathering has taught me the most about walking out my relationship with God. Ministry outside the family is way easier than ministry as a father. That’s one of the reasons why a lot of Christian ministers neglect this area but strive to do great exploits outside the family where public recognition gives them a sense of satisfaction.

That is no different from any man without God. For men are naturally wired to strive for achievements and recognition due to a lack of identity (and some also a lack of being fathered) since the Fall of Man.

If we constantly give our full energy out there ministering to others but leave the little and leftover to our own children, we are very likely striving for recognition.

Seeking external recognition reveals a lack of personal revelation on the Father’s everlasting recognition. If your recognition comes from others but not from your own children recognising the presence and the heart of the Father through you, then you have misplaced your recognition and replaced it with your need for approval from the public.

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend, sharing how we no longer look at a person’s ministry, achievements, or how powerful or influential his pulpit ministry is, etc to determine his godliness. We look at the simplicity of a clearest indicator —— his relationship with his children. That is the decisive factor if the person is godly. Godliness is simply God-consciousness and if you are conscious of God (who is FIRST and FOREMOST your Father), then you will establish that fathering relationship with your children. Fathering reveals spiritual maturity because it reveals the fruit of the Spirit.

During this pandemic, apart from reaching out to those in need, may we not compromise the opportunity we have to reflect, re-evaluate and rekindle the heart of the Father for our children. Because only fathered fathers father.