A Father as Provider

“The greatest inheritance a father can leave his children is a good name” William Shakespeare

One of the key roles of a father in the family is that of a provider. What naturally comes to mind when that word is said is financial provision. However, I think this role is much larger than just financial provision. Certainly financial provision is a crucial part of it. However, it is good to explore the other components of being a provider. 

A father should provide education or knowledge to his children. This is certainly in many respects provided through formal education that requires money. However, the big part of this is the knowledge the father passes to his children at home. The Scriptures say in Proverbs 22:6 “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” One way of doing this is the knowledge of God’s word and the understanding of the nature of things that a father is expected to pass to their children at home. This provision of basic knowledge helps shape the child’s worldview and sets them up for success when they get to the stage of growth where they interact with others outside their home. 

The chief aim of a modern Christian father is to build a biblical or godly worldview in their children (Malachi 2:15). “Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.”  According to Malachi 2:15, God wants us fathers to have godly children from our union with our wives. I think the best way to do this as described in the Bible is to do so as we go along, doing our daily activities. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9 it says “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” We are to talk about God’s word to our children at every opportunity we get. In essence, we are to envelope them with the word of God. This will shape their worldview and God’s word will become the standard with which they measure everything they encounter in the world as they grow up. The earliest we begin to do this as fathers, the better. We should start teaching our kids as soon as they are born and communicating the Word of God in ways they can digest at whichever level of growth they are and increasing the complexity as they mature. 

Author Voddie Baucham in the book Family Shepherds writes about how school going children are exposed 90%, on a daily basis,  to worldly world views. The short time we have with them as fathers and parents is for correcting and reinforcing the biblical world view.

A father should provide security. This should be done by their being present and creating a nurturing environment at home that gives the kids a sense of security. The kids will thus blossom and grow to their full potential. In homes where this sense of security is missing, the children grow up having to compensate for the lack of security and may develop some insecurities, maladjustments and indeed not achieve their full potential. 

Obviously, there is a need to provide physical security. However, in these modern times, there is an even stronger demand for security from the online world which is inversive and immersive. We should secure our children from exposure to corrupting online influences. I find that we make every effort to protect our children from exposure to rogue characters in the physical world, but how much more should we do so in the digital world? We easily hand our children gadgets that connect them or give them access to the world, and we may be naive to think it isn’t an issue. However, they are exposed to whatever the world presents to them in the digital sphere. 

We should secure our children from exposure to the internet in an unsupervised environment. If we guard them from exposure to rogue characters in the real world,  how much more should we do so in the digital world? But do we do so? We give them over to the world on our gadgets freely on most occasions.  

As it says in 1 Corinthians 15:33, bad company corrupts good character. This applies in both the physical world and the virtual world. What company are our children keeping in the physical and digital world? It is a fact that the company they keep will influence their behaviour and character. 

A father should provide discipline to his children. The Scriptures are clear about this, if there is no discipline, a child’s life will be ruined (Prov 19:18). The Bible goes on to say in Hebrews that discipline is a mark of legitimacy, of belonging. It says in Hebrews 12:7 “As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God does not discipline you as he does all of his children, it means you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.” So discipline is a natural way a father shows the children belong to him. It is also a way of showing love to our kids when we discipline them to follow the right path. 

In the animal kingdom, the gray wolf best exemplifies a father as a provider, disciplinarian and protector of the family. Male wolves are deeply committed to their packs, hunting and providing food for their mates and pups. They guard the den and territory fiercely against threats, ensuring the safety of their family. Wolf dads also teach their pups survival skills and are involved in all aspects of parenting, including feeding and protecting the young, often forming lifelong bonds with their mates.