Being an Iconic Father

I looked up the icons representing fathers on this Father’s Day… A beer mug, a coffee cup, a fishing rod, sport related items, a watch, a briefcase, a beard and moustache, a shirt and tie…

That’s how the world sees fathers… and some of those are the gifts we are most likely to receive today.🙄

Would you say that these sum up what our wives and kids see in us? Hopefully…not.

Icon comes from a Greek word that means “image” or “representation”. 

The dictionary defines an icon as “A person or thing widely admired especially for having great influence or significance in a particular sphere.”

Fathers, what influence and significance do we have in our spheres (family, work, society)? 

Here are 4 icons to add to the list, representing 4 ways by which we can be “iconic” fathers:

1- Portraying – We are Mirrors. Men (and women) were made into God’s image to carry His image (Gen 1:26-28). We live according to the purpose we have been created for when we display the closest representation possible of our Father. Mirrors are pointless if they don’t reflect. Broken mirrors do not reflect well. We are the best mirrors we can be when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to conform us to the perfect Icon of the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ.

2- Pointing – We are Magnifying Glasses. We are here to help those around us see God bigger and better. As we ponder and share about who He is, what He has done (and continues to do), and His will for mankind, we help others see better their desperate need for a Father. We do it with what we say and what we do. Magnifying glasses cannot magnify themselves; they focus and help focus on Someone else. 

3- Parenting – We are Manuals and Mallets. We are to teach and discipline (Eph 6:4). We are to represent God’s loving authority and gracious guidance. Within the home, we are both tender teachers and just judges. Parenting is about molding a heart to see its desperate need for God, to have righteous affections towards God, and to reverently fear Him. Manuals and mallets are there to be barriers and encouragement along the way. 

4- Praying – We are Matin warriors. Matins are morning prayers. The home is where dependence on God is first modeled. In a world where fathers are to be strong and have answers to everything, a Christian father finds that strength on his knees. Those around us are able to see the fruits of our prayers, and they also will notice when we don’t pray. May we also pray for those who don’t have a father in their lives, that they will turn and find comfort 

May you have a blessed day today, and continue to grow to be a true icon of our heavenly Father.