Daddy’s Rules For Dating
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesLike everyone else in today’s “information age,” I recently received an unsolicited e-mail which was full of truth and wisdom. The e-mail heading was entitled, “Daddy’s Rules For Dating.” With humor and sarcasm, it lists ten rules for any boy who hopes to date a father’s daughter.
For example, Rule One says, “If you pull into my driveway and honk, you’d better be delivering a package, because you’re not picking anything up.” Translated in today’s jargon – “Don’t you dare be rude.” Each rule has a nugget of truth that fathers understand well .
We, as fathers (and mothers), are protective of our children — and rightly so, because God has given them to us as a trust (Psalm 127:3; cf. Genesis 33:5; Genesis 48:4; Joshua 24:3-4). And because we live in a society which no longer values modesty and sexual purity, we must protect our sons and daughters from evil influences.
That’s why the difficult but balanced teaching in Ephesians 6:4 ESV is so vital. “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” If we properly instruct our sons and daughters about what God expects of them from the Bible, and live it out ourselves, we can avoid angering and discouraging them.
Instead of exasperating our children, let’s teach them what God’s word says about living godly lives (Psalm 78:1-8), and then live a godly life before them (Genesis 18:18-19; cf. Deuteronomy 4:9-10; Deuteronomy 6:5-7; Joshua 24:15) .
We must teach our children clearly
What is right and what is wrong;
Live before them an example
Godly, righteous, pure, and strong. —Fitzhugh