The Father’s Responsibility
The husband and father is the head of the household. The wife looks to him for love and sympathy, and for aid in training the children. This is right; the children are his as well as hers, and he is equally interested in their welfare. The children look to their father for support and guidance. He needs to have a right conception of life and of the influences and associations that should surround his family. Above all, he should be controlled by the love and fear of God and by the teaching of His Word, that he may guide the feet of his children in the right way.MHH 220.4
The father is the lawmaker of the household, and, like Abraham, he should make the law of God the rule of his home. God said of Abraham, “I know him, that he will command his children and his household.” Genesis 18:19, KJV. There would be no sinful neglect to restrain evil, no weak, unwise, indulgent favoritism, no yielding of his conviction of duty to the claims of mistaken affection. Abraham would not only give right instruction, he would maintain the authority of just and righteous laws. God has given rules for our guidance. Children should not be left to wander away from the safe path marked out in God’s Word into ways leading to danger, which are open on every side. Kindly but firmly, with persevering, prayerful effort, their wrong desires should be restrained, their evil inclinations denied.MHH 220.5
The father should enforce in his family the sterner virtues—energy, integrity, honesty, patience, courage, diligence, and practical usefulness. And what he requires of his children he himself should practice, illustrating these virtues in his own life.MHH 221.1
But, fathers, do not discourage your children. Combine affection with authority, kindness and sympathy with firm restraint. Give some of your leisure hours to your children; become acquainted with them; associate with them in their work and in their sports, and win their confidence. Cultivate friendship with them, especially with your sons. In this way you will be a strong influence for good.MHH 221.2
The father should do his part toward making home happy. Whatever his cares and business perplexities, they should not be permitted to affect his family; he should enter his home with smiles and pleasant words.MHH 221.3
In a sense the father is the priest of the household, laying upon the family altar the morning and evening sacrifice. But the wife and children should unite in prayer and join in the song of praise. In the morning before he leaves home for his daily work, the father should gather his children about him and, bowing before God, commit them to the care of the Father in heaven. When the cares of the day are past, let the family unite in grateful prayer and a song of praise, acknowledging divine care during the day.MHH 221.4
Fathers and mothers, however pressing your business, do not fail to gather your family together to worship God. Ask for the guardianship of holy angels in your home. Remember that your dear ones are exposed to temptations. Daily annoyances beset the path of young and old. Those who would live patient, loving, cheerful lives must pray. Only by receiving constant help from God can we gain the victory over self.MHH 221.5