Yesterday, Father’s Day, we had the privilege of dedicating a beautiful baby girl to the Lord during our Sunday church service. During my preparation time for this dedication, the Lord began to speak to me about the importance of the father/daughter relationship. While both parents are extremely important to the upbringing of every child, there is just something special about the relationship between a girl and her Dad, and this truth seems to be getting lost in modern American culture.
Girls that grow up knowing that their father loves and values them, develop a strong sense of security and confidence. This sense of identity will help them to choose well when it comes time to marry. They will know that they are valuable, that they are worthy of being loved, and they will seek out a man that knows how to love God, and love them.
A number of people have asked me for a copy of the dedication that we did yesterday. So below you will find the short list of things that the Lord put on my heart for that service. These are just a few of the things that are imparted to a daughter through a father’s love.
(Ephesians 6:1-4) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”–which is the first commandment with a promise– “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
- The love of a father for his daughter, is the place that a girl, and then a young woman, learns that she is valuable, precious, and worthy of love.
- The way a girl’s father loves and values her mother teaches her what she should look for and expect in a husband.
- The way her father loves God, teaches her to look for a husband that humbly and faithfully loves and serves God with all of his heart.
- The way a father opens his heart to his daughter teaches her that her future husband should be a man that is not afraid of emotional intimacy.
- The way a father lays down his life for his wife and family, teaches a daughter that she is valuable and worthy of protection.
- The way a father disciplines his daughter teaches her that real love confronts dangerous behaviors and attitudes, and that there is safety and stability in Godly principles.