Resolution for Men vs. The President’s Pledge for fathers

Are you courageous enough to be a Biblical Father?

I have taken 3 oaths in my life.  The first was an oath to protect my nation from enemies at home and abroad.  The second was an oath to honor and cherish my wife in sickness and in health till death do us part.  Know, have a taken an oath to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.

Everyone should be familiar with the first two oaths that I identified (military and marriage), but many of you may not recognize the last one.  The last one is from the movie Courageous.  It is the Resolution for Men.  Below is the resolution for men:

I do solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.

 

–          I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.

–          I WILL be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.

–          I WILL bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.

–          I WILL train them to honor authority and live responsibly.

–          I WILL confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy.

–          I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion.

–          I WILL work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.

–          I WILL forgive those who have wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.

–          I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.

–          I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.

–          I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory.

 

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. – Joshua 24:15

This morning, I was trying to think of a way to incorporate a post on my new oath, and everything that is involved, etc…  As I was sitting and pondering the next great post, I stumbled across “the Drudge Report” and happen to notice a story that was talking about the President Pledge .

The Presidents Pledge is something similar to the Resolution for Men. The objective of the President’s Fatherhood pledge is to address the very legitimate concern of fatherlessness in America.   Here is the Presidents Pledge:

I pledge to renew my commitment to family and community.  I recognize the positive impact that fathers, mothers , mentors and other responsible adults can have on our children and youth, and pledge  to do all I can to provide children in my home and throughout my community the encouragement and support they need to fulfill their potential.

Both are after the same objective.  We have families that need fathers, and wives that need husbands.  However, there is a distinct difference between these two.  To point out the obvious, one is based on the Bible, and the other is not.  There are other items here that scream for attention.  Notice how the Resolution for Men has very specific action items on how be a good father/husband, the other offers platitudes and just a renewal of the commitment.  The Resolution for Men offers a real life change that can make an impact not only on the children and wife, but also on the father as well.  The pledge offers only encouragement rather than leadership.

As I sat and compared these two I began to slowly realize that this could be a reason that so many have adbicated their role as fathers.  After all, if the best the President can do is to ask for people to recoginize and offer encouragement and support then the secular worlds expecations of fathers are fairly low.  Remember…his father was not around.  I would have thought that the President would have taken a firmer stand on this.  Sadly that is not the case.  What we need is…well…

Read the below exert from the movie Courageous.  This is what needs to happen in America.

“As a law-enforcement officer, I’ve seen firsthand the deep hurt and devastation that fatherlessness brings in a child’s life. Our prisons are full of men and women who lived recklessly after being abandoned by their fathers, wounded by the men who should have loved them the most. Many now follow the same pattern of irresponsibility that their fathers did.

While so many mothers have sacrificed to help their children survive, they were never intended to carry the weight alone. We thank God for them.

But research is proving that a child also desperately needs a daddy. There’s no way around this fact. As you know, earlier this year, my family endured the tragic loss of our -year-old daughter, Emily. Her death forced me to realize that not only had I not taken advantage of the priceless time I had with her, but that I did not truly understand how crucial my role was as a father to her and our son, Dylan. Since her passing, I’ve asked God to show me, through his word how to be the father that I need to be.

I now believe that God desires for every father to courageously step up and do whatever it takes to be involved in the lives of his children. But more than just being there or providing for them, he’s to walk with them through their lives and be a visual representation of the character of God, their father in heaven.

A father should love his children and seek to win their hearts. He should protect them, discipline them and teach them about God.

He should model how to walk with integrity and treat others with respect and should call out his children to become responsible men and women who live their lives for what matters in eternity.

Some men will hear this and mock it or ignore it.

But I tell you that as a father, you are accountable to God for the position of influence he has given you.

You can’t fall asleep at the wheel only to wake up one day and realize that your job or your hobbies have no eternal value but the souls of your children do.

Some men will hear this and agree with it but have no resolve to live it out.

lnstead, they will live for themselves and waste the opportunity to leave a godly legacy for the next generation.

But there are some men who, regardless of the mistakes we’ve made in the past, regardless of what our fathers did not do for us, will give the strength of our arms and the rest of our days to loving God with all that we are and to teach our children to do the same, and, whenever possible, to love and mentor others who have no father in their lives but who desperately need help and direction.

We are inviting any man whose heart is willing and courageous to join us in this resolution.

In my home, the decision has already been made.

You don’t have to ask who will guide my family, because by God’s grace, I will.

You don’t have to ask who will teach my son to follow Christ, because l will.

Who will accept the responsibility of providing and protecting my family? I will.

Who will ask God to break the chain of destructive patterns in my family’s history? I will.

Who will pray for and bless my children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do?

I am their father. l will.

I accept this responsibility, and it is my privilege to embrace it.

I want the favor of God and his blessing on my home. Any good man does.

So where are you, men of courage?

Where are you, fathers who fear the Lord?

It’s time to rise up and answer the call that God has given to you and to say, “I will. I will. I will.”

This is the oath I took on Sunday.  Perhaps if we could get more men to follow this…fatherlessness would not be as large of an issue…

Do we have any men of courage out there?