If you have been following this blog, you have heard us speak about the three things that young women have said that have impacted them greatly. This week, I want to talk about the next one on the list. One of the key principles that I heard impacted girls growing up was seeing their dad modeling and living out an authentic faith in God.
Let’s break this down a little
As your daughter begins her lifetime of learning, her biggest class room is in your home. You are her first and most effective teacher. The launch she gets in life will largely be determined by what she learns in her home classroom. Here is an incomplete list of the things that a daughter can get from a dad who lives out an authentic faith.
She sees (and experiences) unconditional love, forgiveness, trust, faith & hope. She learns about giving as her parents give away their time, talent and treasure. As she sees her dad humble himself in prayer, she learns the value of a Big God who is in involved. As her dad takes her to church she learns the value of community. As her dad lives out and incorporates scripture into the family, she learns valuable biblical lessons.
A Godly life, home and family is the best way to go. It isn’t necessarily the easiest, but it is clearly the best. As you love and serve your God, you will bring people closer, love more freely, feel more deeply, and live more abundantly.
These are all things I want for my daughter. Obtaining these things will help pave the way and set a healthy trajectory for her. It isn’t good enough to outsource this teaching to your church or some other avenue. YOU must live it out on a consistent basis or your words will be cheap and hollow.
Do you want your daughter to live out the characteristics I have described above? It might seem a little odd for me to challenge your spiritual life in a parenting blog. However, it is based on real data I received from high quality young women. They spoke over and over about the huge impact they received by watching and experiencing their dads living out their own authentic faith.
Today’s Take Away: Look into your own life and heart. John 3:30 talks about Jesus becoming an increasingly bigger part of your life and YOU becoming an increasingly smaller part of your life. Give some thought to how much space in your heart you have given Jesus. Look for ways to turn over more and more of your life to what God has for you. Your daughter receives a huge benefit by you stepping up in your spiritual life.
God bless you in this pursuit friends
Alan Smyth
There is an entire chapter in the book “Prized Possession” which is devoted to hearing from high quality young women what impacted them most as they were growing up. The topic today was one of the top three!
