June 2024 Partner Letter
Lessons for A Good Man
Dear Members and Partners,
Please allow me to start off by saying “Happy Father’s Day” to all the dads. Every Christian father should know just how essential you are to your families and the world. As I reflect on this month’s partner letter and the Father’s Day holiday, I want to take a moment to place emphasis on just how needed every current and future father is to society. God places description on what He calls a “Good Man”. Hear the word of the Lord concerning this principle:
Proverbs 13:22 (NKJV) - “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.”
Whenever I read the Bible, I pay attention to adjectives. An adjective is a word that describes a subject in a sentence. God through Solomon delineates a “type” of man that every male should aspire to be. That type of man is not just any man, the one God wants us all to be is a “good man.” Now immediately my mind goes to the fact that if there can be a “good man” there most certainly can be a “bad man.” If a good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, a bad man squanders everything he gets and leaves his children starting over from the beginning. Could you imagine what would happen to a community of people if fathers were all able to leave a starter home or even a five-figure savings account to each child? With healthy parameters such as “you must use the money for college” or “you must use the money to gain a trade or skill.” If this happened, we would break the curse of poverty on a generational level because every young adult would have a way to make money “honestly.” But in so many cases, dads leave their kids and families worse off with loads of debt, and worse, a life of “figuring it out” because a kid never benefited from the wisdom of a father. I believe that there are at least three inheritances that every good man leaves for his children. They are as follows:
1. A clear understanding of salvation and how to relate to God as father.
2. A clear understanding of their identity and calling; our children should not be confused about who they are in God and what they are destined to do in life.
3. An economic inheritance that helps every child to flourish and carry out a strong legacy.
When fathers do their part in a child’s life, the son or daughter has a strong opportunity to maximize their potential in life and this is leaving an inheritance and being a good man. Ultimately it is every adult’s responsibility to tap into their God ordained assignment and be a productive contributor to society by living out their Christianity optimally. It is a father’s job to help this occur seamlessly. Sons and daughters alike gain their natural and spiritual identity development from their fathers. Every man who plants the seed of a child, has a great responsibility to see to it, that the child becomes who God has ordained them to be. This is an awesome responsibility.
1 Timothy 5:8 (NKJV) - “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
God takes the provision of a father very seriously. Every man should evaluate whether he has “denied the faith” by neglecting his household. If you are a man reading this letter, I encourage you to place your relationship with each of your children under a microscope and determine if you are giving them your best efforts as a father. We will all be called into accountability on how we’ve handled the things of God, and that includes our wives and children. If you’ve not always been a good dad, there is still time to redeem yourself by asking for forgiveness and becoming the man of God today that God and your children can be pleased with. If you have read his article and never had a “good father”, that’s okay, God is your ultimate father. Begin to know God deeper and trust his surrogacy in your life. God will never have us lacking what we need just because someone else didn’t do their part. If we are willing and obedient, we will still eat off the good of the land no matter who was missing or present. Love God with all your heart and you will soon discover that there is no Dad quite like our heavenly Father. I want to wish every father a “Happy Father’s Day”. May you be richly blessed everyday of your lives!
With Love,
Gabriel Rogers, PhD Senior Pastor Kingdom Christian Church