Read Previous Articles in this Series:
Biblical Exhortations to Dads #1: Imitate Your Heavenly Father
Biblical Exhortations to Dads #2: Love Your Wife and Children
Biblical Exhortations to Dads #3: Lead Your Family
As Christian fathers, we should want to honor God and bless our families in our parenting. But how do we do that?
In this new series of articles, we’ve been reviewing what God has told us in his Word about what he expects from fathers. We’ve been reviewing a list of biblical exhortations for fathers and, so far, we’ve looked at how we are to imitate our heavenly Father, love our wives and children, and lead our families.
Let’s look at the next item on our list.
Biblical Exhortation #4. Provide for Your Family
As the head of the household, it is ultimately your responsibility to provide for your family. God is holding you responsible for providing materially for your wife and kids. That includes food, shelter, and clothing. That means providing safety and meeting the needs of your wife and children.
And how do you do that? By working. God designed us to work. We see this in the fact that God created Adam to work in the Garden of Eden even before he fell into sin:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (Gen 2:15).
All throughout the book of Proverbs, we’re exhorted to work diligently. For example,
Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man (Prov 6:6-11).
In the New Testament, we’re commanded to work diligently as if Jesus were our boss:
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men (Col 3:23).
Paul gives this warning to those who are able-bodied, but not working:
For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. (2 Thess 3:10-12)
Men, if you are able-bodied, you should be working to provide for yourself and your family. If you’re not providing for your family financially, Paul has this to say to you:
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim 5:8).
A Christian man who is not providing for his own family is denying the Christian faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Talk about the ultimate hypocrisy—claiming to be a Christian while neglecting the most basic duty that God expects of fathers. This is so fundamental that you don’t even need to be a Christian to feel the parental instinct to provide for your kids.
Now, to be clear, Paul is not talking about someone who is temporarily out of work while looking for another job or someone who is physically unable to work. He is talking about the able-bodied person who is choosing to not work to provide for their families.
Men, if you want to honor God as fathers, work hard and provide for your families.
