What Does the Bible Say About Being a Good Father — Meaning Explained

Ephesians 6:4 instructs, 'And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.' Deuteronomy 6:6-7 commands fathers to teach God's Word diligently: 'Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house.' Proverbs 22:6 says, 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.' Psalm 103:13 shows God's model: 'Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.' Hebrews 12:5-11 presents discipline as an expression of love, comparing God's fatherly correction to human fathers. Malachi 4:6 prophesied the turning of fathers' hearts to children. A godly father provides, protects, instructs, corrects, and above all, points his children to God.