Fathers, your life, filled with love for Christ, is the curriculum. We don’t have to be perfect, but we need to be men who are honestly walking with God. We need to be men whose hearts are being shaped daily by His Word instead of by the world.

I’ve been reflecting on Deuteronomy 6 lately and I noticed something pretty simplistic but also very important.

When I read chapter 6, my default thought is usually,

“Man, how can I get better with family devotions?”

It’s easy for me to instantly picture gathering my kids around the table, opening the Bible, and trying to have a meaningful time together. And while that’s not a bad thing, I believe that I may have missed the larger heart of what God is saying to fathers.

Look carefully at how the passage is structured:

God doesn’t start by saying, 

“Teach your children My words.”

Rather, He starts with the father:

“These words that I command you today shall be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6). 

What a significant and often overlooked foundation. The command to teach your children comes second.

God is telling every father that you can’t give your children what you don’t have.

As fathers we need to remember, if God’s word isn’t alive and treasured in ourown hearts, we will have very little eternal value to pass on to our children. Indeed, many things compete for a father’s heart these days: long hours at work, sports, endless entertainment, and all the weird hobbies. These things can easily take over a father’s heart without him even realizing it.

More than this, you can read the Bible to your kids every day, but if your heart is consumed with work, chasing the next promotion, scrolling on your phone, watching games, feeding some secret addiction, or battling lust, your children will feel the disconnect. They’ll sense that Dad’s heart is somewhere else (this battle I know very well as I continue to just read and write from day-to-day).

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