What it Means to Be Dad
We need more dads today. We have more than enough men who can procreate, what we really need are dads.
There are many men who would like to be dads but have little to no idea what that means or what being a father looks like because they did not have such a role model growing up.
Defining what it means to be a dad can start with the Hebrew word for dad, abba. I believe Hebrew to be the tongue of angels Paul referred to in 1 Cor. 13, and I believe it can give us a good starting place.
In the days of Moses, when the Lord spoke His word, Hebrew look much different than it does today. Pictures were used to communicate ideas and principles.
The word for dad in Hebrew uses just two letters. The Aleph and the Bet. When Moses wrote the Aleph it looked like an ox head. This is because the Aleph means first or strength.
The Bet looks like the letter b lying on its back and if you use your imagination you could see a simple tent. The Bet represents the home.
When you put these two letters together, the Aleph and the Bet, you have the word for dad that means “the strength of the home”.
Does this definition just point out the obvious, that men are stronger than women and therefore a father is the home’s strongest person?
The shallow meaning could point to such things, but if we were to go deeper and consider what the roles of father and mother should be, we would find that the Lord has a much richer part for us to play.
In scripture, strength does not refer to how much one can lift, but to the life a person choses to live and to the standard set by that strength.
The bible identifies Jesus as the strong right arm of God, and while Jesus will return as the conquering king, His actions on the cross show us the nature of the Father.
The name of God when read using the pictures that make up His name reads as the hand revealed, the nail revealed. The strong right hand of God was nailed to the cross, because the Lord dealt with sin, He set a high standard.
What does any of this have to do with being a father, a dad? Everything.
A true dad will give his children a standard to live by, and then enforce that standard though teaching and action. This dad will not compromise the standard because this is where the strength comes in.
Consider that Jesus is not only the strength of God but also the Word of God. He is the standard as well as the strength.
A good dad sets a standard. In a Godly home that standard is God’s word and His way of living. Dads take the time to not only set the standard but to teach it and live it out.
Again, we need more dads today. Dads who are strong of spirit, willing to be the strength of the home saying, “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord”.
The days ahead are difficult, only the families that have the strength to stand will endure. Families guided by Godly men that will turn neither to the right nor to the left but will cause their house to walk with God.
We need dads.
