Proverbs 10

While all of Proverbs is about Wisdom, Chapter 10 is a rich collection about how to be wise regarding: The pursuit of Righteousness, Work Ethic, Counsel and God’s Love. Verse 1 says, “A wise child brings joy to a father.” At this season of my life, I have become a student of what kind of father God wants me to be to ensure my children are wise and embody these character qualities that Chapter 10 highlights.

With the summer upon us, I am thoughtful of vacations, time with the family and the investments that I need to make in my kids to nurture wisdom in them. My men’s group is studying a book by Ken Canfield called, They Call Me Dad. From this book, I was encouraged to find out that children that feel a closeness to their father are twice more likely to enter college or find stable employment after high school, 75 percent less likely to have a teen birth and 80 percent less likely to spend time in jail and half as likely to experience depression.

This book had three suggestions to help us be the Dads that God wants us to be:

Be vulnerable with your kids. Strong effective fathers admit when they are wrong and ask forgiveness. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Have a relentless passion for God. This passion is demonstrated by your daily time in God’s word and prayer, witnessing and fellowship with other Christians.

Have an Abba connection with God. Galatians 4:5-7 says that we really are children of God. Just as we are children of God, Jesus refers to God as “my father” twenty-five times in the Gospel. Jesus used His relationship to His Father as a model for us to follow.

Let’s renew our efforts this summer to be the kind of Dad that God can use to nurture wisdom in our children that is manifested by the character qualities found in Proverbs 10.

--Brian McDougall