As I get ready for a new devotional for dads, I was excited to find another one from UNCOMMEN titled Dad Strong. It’s incredible getting the opportunity not only to go through devotionals for dad but also to be able to reach out and connect with the various authors or publishers to ensure they are ok with me doing it and building a network of people who I can work with towards helping men Be The Dads they need to be. Today’s devotional comes with the following description from Bible.com and am looking forward to this 5-day devotional series.
Join us as we look at what it means to be Dad Strong. We set expectations, get involved, look at how we speak, talk about boundaries and get ready for the transition. Dad Strong seems to goes hand-in-hand with being Uncommen.
UNCOMMEN – DAD STRONG – BIBLE.COM
Today’s devotional is connected to the verses from God’s Word found in Deuteronomy 31:8.
‘The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” ‘
Deuteronomy 31:8
Let’s be the dads today who cling to God’s Word and to His promises. Let’s grab hold of the reality that in God’s Word He tells us not to be afraid over 365 times which means there are enough of them to grab a reminder daily that we can be the dads who are not afraid. Today’s Word not only tells us to be the dads who are not to be afraid but also that we are to be the dads who are not to be discouraged. He tells us “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Now let’s go back to the beginning to take hold of the why. Why is it we do not have to be afraid? Why is it we do not have to be discouraged? God tells us that He goes before us! God tells us that He will be with us! God tells us that He will never leave us! God tells us that He will never forsake us! God will never abandon us! This is why we can be the dads who are not afraid and not discouraged. God speaks this truth in the New Testament too where it says in Hebrews 13:5:
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5
So today as we get going, let’s be the dads who trust God at His Word! We trust He goes before us! We trust He will be with us! We trust He will never leave us! We trust He will never forsake us! So by trusting Him at His Word, let’s walk out our today without fear and without discouragement!
Today’s devotional has been provided by UNCOMMEN (more details can be found https://www.uncommen.org/).
Reading through today’s devotional, here are some takeaways for me: (check out the devotional on your own too to see if you pick up other nuggets, and please share your findings in the comments)
Boundaries Are Good For Everyone
So if our Heavenly Father tells us in His Word that He goes before us, He is always present in our lives then we should be the dads that are active in our kids’ lives and as such are always present as well. We may not be able to be physically present like God always is but through prayer for them, we can be present. But if we are always present what does that mean for boundaries? Should we have boundaries? It is important to have healthy boundaries and so the answer is yes.
- Boundaries are a good thing.
- It’s important for kids to have boundaries.
- It’s more important for adults to have boundaries to keep themselves out of trouble.
- We need to accept healthy boundaries and the importance of them and to live within them even though many people don’t like being confined by them.
- A great Word to the importance of this comes from 1 Corinthians 10 where it says:
- “All things are lawful but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” — 1 Corinthians 10:23-24
- Just because you could doesn’t mean that you should.
- Would it be helpful if you did it?
- Would it build up if you did it?
- Let’s be the dads who discern if it would be helpful and build up our kids!
- Let’s be the dads who consider what is most beneficial for our kids at every age!
- What boundaries do we need to implement as a dad who has raised children to adulthood?
- Advice, Time, Money, Speech, and Emotion
- Today’s devotional provides us with the following pointers:
- “We may need to wait to be asked for advice, instead of giving it out all willy-nilly.“
- “We will need to adjust our expectations of time spent together.“
- “We can’t solve all problems by offering money. Sometimes the lesson is learned in the struggle. That’s a hard lesson for some parents.“
- “There will be many times when we need to hold our tongues.“
- “It can be easy to have heightened emotions. It’s imperative, however, to keep them in check.“
- Today’s devotional provides Extra Credit information too:
- Today’s devotional leaves us with some UNCOMMEN Questions:
- Today’s devotional leaves us with an UNCOMMEN Challenge:
