Sign up for our free newsletter:

Key Bible Verse: "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him" (Matthew 3:17). Bonus Reading: Psalm 37:23–24

Your child needs a sense of personal worth. Fathers can communicate this in many ways.

One Sunday I was invited to speak to the San Diego Chargers in their pre-game chapel. I took my son Sean, and after chapel we found our seats in the stadium. The team had given us seats down front, near the 50-yard line! Fifty thousand spectators filled the stadium; the roar was deafening.

I put my arm around my son and said, "Look at all these people, Buddy." Sean turned 360 degrees in his seat to see everyone, especially those way up high. To those 10-year-old eyes it looked like the whole world was there.

"Wow, Dad," Sean exclaimed, "that's a lot of people!"

"Yes, it is. But you know what? You mean more to me than all these people put together. Son, what you think of me as your dad means more to me than the opinion of all fifty thousand people!"

Sean's eyes grew big. Again he surveyed the entire stadium. "Really, Dad?" he exclaimed, "More than all of them?" He jumped on my lap, feeling secure and significant. At that moment, Sean knew he counted with me.

—Josh McDowell in The Father Connection

My Response: My children know they are valued parts of our family because …

Thought to Apply: Praise is well, compliment is well, but affection—that is the last and final and most precious reward that any man can win. —Mark Twain

Adapted from The Father Connection (Broadman & Holman, 1996) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Heavenly Father, help me to model Your tender love to my own children.

				Try an Issue of Men of Integrity Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Men of Integrity as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Sign up for the Men of Integrity Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help