Becoming a Legendary dad.

I am not much of a tattoo guy. But, when I came across this one it really grabbed my attention and got me thinking. There is so much truth here. I am sure this man’s dad had passed away, but I think the words on his back are so true for all of our kids, for good or for bad! One of the memes we use for our Legacy dads materials says “The Legend” and the “The Legacy”.  Most of us don’t naturally think of ourselves as legends.  We think of ourselves as average guys.  Yet, our kids see us as legends. We as dads will have an impact on our kids for the rest of their lives.  They will imitate us, often without even realizing it, in all parts of their lives, for the rest of their lives. 

It causes me to stop and ponder as a dad.  What am I passing on to my kids?  Sometimes I am overwhelmed by my shortcomings and hope and pray that somehow my kids won’t be messed up.  Other times I think about all the goodness that God has brought into our lives and I hope my kids will grab onto that.

In the last few months, God has been stirring in me a lot about my legacy as a dad.  I am especially humbled and frankly concerned that my character plays such a vital role in how my kids will understand the character of God.  Study after study shows that if kids grow up with aggressive and angry dads, they view God as tough to please and angry.  Kids that grow up with distant or absent fathers view God as distant.  Kids who grow up with passive and soft dads grow up thinking that God is just a marshmallow in the sky.  Kids whose dads compromise their integrity, grow up thinking that God won’t be faithful to them.  I could go on and on, but you get the idea, our character as dads has a lifelong effect on our kids and their relationship with God.

One could hear that news and be so overwhelmed, he would want to run and hide.  And in all honesty many, if not most, modern dads do.  We hide in our work, our pleasures, our kid’s activities, our churches, and in many other places. Rather than digging deeper into who God is and the hard work of repentance when we are out of line with God’s character, we can tend to just ignore it all.

As a man who wants to be a Legacy dad, I am finding more and more that I don’t care quite as much if my kids go to the right school, have a great income, marry the perfect woman, have 2.3 kids, or if they are stars in the world.  Instead, the more I pray about my legacy, the more I find myself wanting my kids to know the God of the scriptures in a way that is rich and profound.  I want them to be comforted by God’s love, intrigued by God’s goodness, rested in His sovereignty, equipped for battle by His strength, humbled by his Holiness, drawn to repentance by his kindness and Grace, and enlightened by His truth and wisdom. 

Is that your desire too?  If so, I have good news!  We are creating an opportunity for us to wrestle and process these things together.  None of us really feel like legends, but together we may be able to help each other leave an effective legacy with our kids. We have our Legacy Dads night coming up on March 28th.  We are going to dig in and discuss together the character of God.  We are going to begin by discussing the love of God.  We will look together at how we, as dads, can model the love of God in our homes. It will be a fun night!

The more I think about this, the more excited I get to learn together how we can become the kind of legends that can point our kids to the ultimate Legend, God Himself. 

Check out more at https://www.ourtruelegacy.com/legacydads

I hope you will join us!