A Fatherless Society
If the devil could get a society and make it the way he wanted it, what would it be like?
Do you know there was once a society completely ruled by the devil? He had instituted his thoughts and his morality. This society was completely destroyed from the face of the earth and the lesson of it should be a perpetual witness to all generations. The society was Sodom and Gomorrah!
The final end of any society run by the devil is the complete destruction of fatherhood. The devil himself cannot reproduce. Angels cannot reproduce nor marry (Matt. 22:30). But God can reproduce Himself. God is in the process of reproducing Himself in us — His begotten children (I John 3:1-2).
Thus the devil wants to destroy fatherhood — for in so doing he hopes to destroy God's true religion.
How does the devil go about the destruction of fatherhood?
It starts off innocently enough with a few jokes. Gags and comic situations, comedy shows and plays are used to portray father as a dolt, a stumbling, bumbling idiot. Witness such shows as Blondie, The Life o f Riley, Bewitched and such cartoons as Bringing Up Father, etc. The whole point is to make fun of, ridicule and repudiate the authority of the father.
Another way the devil destroys fatherhood is through seduction. Appeals are made to the he-man type that playing around, having the "sophisticated" attitude, being the playboy is the manly thing to do.
Many men cheat on their wives — have extramarital relationships and mistresses on the side. They don't realize what they're doing. But they are destroying their very homes and making null and void their potential for true fatherhood. The devil's real aim is to destroy the family and children. By causing the home to break up, the devil can more readily get at the children, causing the boys to imitate their mothers, thus bringing society one step closer to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Successful businessmen are a prime target. Consume their time through their various business pursuits, is the ploy. Then they have no time for their wives, for their children, to build a solid foundation and good home life. Rather they're in the busy pursuit of making the almighty dollar. In this way they are seduced from their responsibilities as fathers — the aim, of course, is the destruction of their homes.
Even in religion today the title "father" has been perverted. This title is applied to men who are unmarried and single — with no children at all. Of course it's supposed to be a spiritual title. But notice the subtle way in which the meaning of this word is destroyed. This term is applied to a religious leader as it would be applied to God. Implication is that even God has no real children.
Jesus forbids His ministers to be called "father" and forbids His followers to call anyone else on the earth "father" as a spiritual title (Matt. 23:9). The only persons who deserve this title are your own physical father and God Almighty, your spiritual Father. (Some may use this term with foster parents who have been the only parents they've known)
Aimed at God's Religion
This vicious and subtle attack on fatherhood is really aimed at God Almighty. Its aim is to warp people to the point they cannot have a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.
If you have never known a proper relationship with a physical father, if will be more difficult for you to have a right relationship with your spiritual Father. You will have to learn now the things you should have learned in relationship to a physical father. Here are just a couple of examples.
In James 1:17 we read, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."
Do you realize all good gifts come from your Heavenly Father?
Suppose a boy were reared in an orphanage or did not have a father to help him get established in life. Here is a boy who grew up mostly on his own. What he learned he learned by himself. He had to claw out his living in this world. What he got he had to "earn on his own." He is a "self-made man."
This type of man finds it very difficult to humble himself, fall on his knees, praise and thank the God of heaven for the many gifts he receives! Some of you reading this article may be in this category.
When we are in trouble God will take care of us. The Bible tells us, ". . . casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you" (I Peter 5:7). How hard it is to cast cares on our Heavenly Father when we have not learned this lesson with a physical father!
The destruction of fatherhood is one of the devil's chief tools in slowing down the spiritual progress of all peoples who are converted.
The Bible tells us that the relationship with our physical father is a direct parallel to the relationship of our spiritual Father.
Notice, "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
"Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they [our physical fathers] verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness" (Heb. 12:5-10).
Notice that we learn vital lessons from the correction of our physical fathers. After their correction we learn to give them "reverence." We learn to yield to their authority and to be more loving and respectful to them.
We must transfer this same wonderful feeling of reverence to our Heavenly Father! Can you do it?
Do you have a hard time looking to God as your Father? Do you just pray to God as a great Being — distant, ominous and powerful? Or do you know God intimately as a Father?
Motherhood — A Part of Fatherhood
In order to destroy fatherhood completely the devil must also destroy motherhood. This he is doing just as effectively.
Today rebellious women attack and slander their husbands. The devil loves wives to ridicule their husbands. These wives are destroying fatherhood and at the same time their own motherhood.
Many women have taken the attitude "no man will tell me what to do." With this refractory attitude they drive their husbands from the home and away from them. When a husband feels intimidated, insulted and ridiculed he is not comfortable at home. And when home is not comfortable he stays away as long as he can. Thus the children are robbed of a good relationship with their father. The wife is also robbed of a loving, close, happy marriage. This frustrates her and causes her to overdo affection for her children.
Motherhood is destroyed when men make fun of their wives, ridicule and destroy their effectiveness in the home. Some men seek to keep up with the Joneses. They encourage their wives to work outside the home. The wives are, therefore, not able to effectively fulfill their responsibilities as mothers. The children suffer. The home disintegrates. And the devil is well pleased!
Can we not realize that motherhood and fatherhood blend into one? That motherhood is a part of fatherhood? Women ought to be respected, loved and admired by their husbands. Husbands ought to have the absolute respect and reverence of their wives in loving submission to the head of the house.
A Woman's Part
Women are vitally important to the establishment of the home. A loving, kind, attractive, clean, neat, thoughtful, and submissive wife can make all the difference in the world to her family.
Men, by their very nature, tend toward work and activities outside the home. A man's world is pretty much outside the home.
But a man must take part in the home ! He must be the head of it.
Here's where a good wife helps. She can make home life very desirable for her husband. She can make home a pleasant place to be — a pleasure to come home to. By her love and encouragement she can help her husband to have a far greater part in the activities of the home, especially in dealing with the children. She can help make his fatherhood far more effective. And at the same time increase her feminine role in the right way. Write for our free booklet, True Womanhood — Is It a "Lost Cause"? It expounds five specific feminine characteristics which every woman should cultivate.
Nothing can take the place of a family built around a strong, solid and close marriage. This is essential to proper home life.
And those with proper family relationships tend to have the right relationships in the family of God. Notice!
"I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, BECAUSE YE HAVE KNOWN THE FATHER.
"I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one" (I John 2:12-14).
Notice that he writes to the children of God and among these children are young men and fathers. He tells the young men that they have been strong and have overcome the wicked one.
Today young men need to be strong!
They need to overcome the wicked one who is out to destroy their fatherhood! They need to request our free article "Plain Truth About Queer Men" which discusses the whole problem of homosexuality and then goes on to elaborate on those truly masculine qualities which young men should cultivate and exhibit.
The styles today are geared to demasculinize young men. Many teenagers — even those from solid upstanding families — tend toward the styles of long hair and effeminate ways!
God tells us, "LOVE NOT THE WORLD, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (I John 2:15-16).
This statement follows on the heels of young men overcoming the wicked one. God tells us we must not love the world — and there is a reason! The reason is that this world and the things of the world tend toward the destruction of fatherhood! You can't love the world and love the Father too.
Look at entertainment. TV, the movies, novels, plays — even music — tend toward the destruction of right and proper development. The idea is sex — loose sex, perverted sex, weird sex. All this tends toward the destruction of the home — the destruction of fatherhood. The styles that influence men and women today tend toward the destruction of parenthood in general!
God's Solution
In the very near future Jesus Christ will intervene in this world's affairs. He will take the reign and rule away from Satan the devil and from the rulers of this world. God's Kingdom will once again establish the true meaning of fatherhood, motherhood — parenthood!
But what if you haven't had a good father? Can you have a right relationship with God? Yes! If you are willing to overcome deficiencies in your background.
God is a Father to the fatherless. He can help you to be a better father and also to be a good son of His.
"Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet [fit] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12). Yes, God is able to make you fit to be His son.
Recognize the deficiencies in your own life. Call on God as your Heavenly Father and ask Him to give you a right attitude toward Him as your Father.
If you have not had a good father, call on God for the help. Imitate God who is your Father. He will show you how to rear your own children and to be the kind of father they can look to for love and guidance.
And what if you are a widow trying to rear boys? Here again you must look to God for guidance. God is called "a father to the fatherless."
Point your sons to good masculine examples in your local community. Point them to the many examples in the Bible of God's great men. Have them copy these men's lives except, of course, for their sins.
Building for the Future
Won't it be wonderful when boys are reared to be real men — masculine, kind, strong, loving, forceful yet merciful? And when girls are reared to be women of femininity, beauty without and within — honorable, respectful and loving?
The tragedy of bad child rearing is that it tends to carry over to the succeeding generation. But, by the same token, the blessing of right child rearing is that it, too, tends to carry over.
Fathers and mothers, you have a duty not only to your children today — but to your childrens' children and to generations to come.
Let's not let them down!