A good father

“My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad; my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.”     -Proverbs 23:15-16

A good father cares about how the son grows up.  Whether or not he is wise.  Whether or not he speaks the truth.  The good father cares not only for the number of children, their material successes, and what they can bring home.  He cares about their choices and their character. 

The bad father is never disappointed in his children:  for him they can do no wrong.  That father thinks that he loves his children the most by honoring them above God, above truth, even above common decency.  But that father does not truly love.  For love is of God.  To ignore God for the sake of the child is to create chaos for the child.

Of course there is the overbearing, controlling parent who is never satisfied with the child’s behavior.  But this parent also ignores God, and creates an ideal image of what the child must be, be it based on religion or economics or education.  The child as a person does not exist, but only the image to the parent.

The good father rejoices in the right, and is doubly blessed when his son speaks it.