What fathers Must Know and Do

Know the Lord, and help your children know the Lord. God is to be king of the inner man. We serve God with a "perfect heart and a willing mind."

Know the children. Particularly with reference to their fallen condition. How exactly does the Bible describe our fallen condition?

Know the "world." Fathers must assume the role of an assessor: assess the character of the world as it relates to rearing children. "it is a condition fraught with infinite peril to them" (John Eadie).

Make use of the keys that God has given you in your children's lives. Don't lose the keys: forinstance a seventeen year old Girl wrote these sad lines, "Have you ever heard of a father who wouldn't talk to his daughter? My father doesn't seem to know I'm alive. In my whole life, he has never said he loves me or given me a goodnight kiss unless I asked him to. I think the reason he ignores me is because I'm so boring. I look at my friends and think if I were funny like her , or a super brain like her, or even outrageous and punk like Tasha, he might put down his paper.... I play the recorder at school. For the last three years I've been a soloist in the Fall concert. Mom comes to the concerts. Dad never does. This year I'm a senior, so it is his last chance. I'd give anything to look out into the audience and see him there, but who am I kidding? it will never happen." Behold a father who has lost the keys to his daughter's life.