Spiritual Fathers

Read: 1 Timothy 5:1-2; 1 Timothy 1:1-2; Proverbs 6:20-23; Ephesians 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 4:14-16 The Message Bible
14-16I'm not writing all this as a neighborhood scold just to make you feel rotten. I'm writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled. There are a lot of people around who can't wait to tell you what you've done wrong, but there aren't many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God's Message to you that I became your father. I'm not, you know, asking you to do anything I'm not already doing myself.

Fathers. Everyone of us needs a spiritual father and often many spiritual fathers in our lives. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that they provide discipline and instruction from the Lord. Proverbs tells us that the correction, instruction and counsel will guide us, be a light for us and it is the way to life. Fathers bring us life, light, counsel and guidance. 1 Corinthians tells us that they help us mature or grow up!

You need a spiritual father in your life. A person with wisdom to help you through all of life's difficulties. A person you respect and honor and can receive correction and direction from. Spiritual fathers provide four things: Destiny/identity, Protection, Spiritual Food and Authority.

Destiny - In the Jewish culture your father told you what you would one day be and do. Fathers held the destiny of their children. Today's culture it is the same. Spiritual fathers will unlock and help you see the destiny in your life. Destiny and identity go hand in hand. If you have a destiny you have an identity and vice versa. We have an identity crisis in the youth of America because of a lack of fathers. A spiritual father will provide destiny and identity for your life. They will tell you, then show you who you are (identity) and position you to hear God on what you should do (destiny).

Protection - Fathers also provide protection. Protection from others, protection from yourself and protection from anything harmful. A spiritual father will be a covering of protection for your life. Showing you things, areas in yourself and others that are harmful. Listen to them! If they tell you a relationship is harmful, listen! They know what they are talking about. My natural father protected me from others, myself and anything that could harm me, the same is true with spiritual fathers.

Spiritual Food - In today's society both fathers and mothers provide for the home. According to the Word Fathers have a mandate from God to provide. This doesn't mean a mother cannot it's just Fathers are required to provide food and nourishment for their families. A spiritual father is someone who can feed you spiritually for a time and then teach you to feed yourself. They can guide you and show you what to read and how to pray and once you have it down release you to feed yourself. They help you grow strong in your faith and in Christ.

Authority - Authority is the difference between someone who gets set free and someone who stays in bondage. We all have power, but we need the authority to exercise the power. In order to have authority in your life you must first be under authority. You have to be submitted, or willing to listen to and follow someone else. You need a spiritual father in your life that you are willing to listen to and follow. One you honor and are under. One who can come at anytime and say you need to change this and you will change it. This creates authority in your life and that is the way to tapping into the power that God has for you!

You need a spiritual father in your life. How do you find one? Well start with your own father. If your dad is a man of God who can provide these things then there you go! You will still have a pastor that you need to submit to as a spiritual father, but your natural dad if they are a man of God will be the best spiritual father you can have.

If you don't have the joy of having a natural father like that then God has a spiritual father for you. Pastors, Elders, leaders and older men who are men of God will be that spiritual father for you. Submit yourself to them and they will provide that which you need.

Prayer: Please place spiritual fathers in my life to speak destiny and purpose into my life. I choose to submit myself to them and receive what I need from them even I don't always like what I hear. Help them to mature me and grow me into the person I am called to be!