I was walking through the mall and noticed a
man with a young boy . His t-shirt caught
my attention: “My #1 job is to be a great dad!”
At first I thought, “That’s a fantastic desire!” But then I started thinking, “Is this really
what a man’s number one job should be?”
First, I thought about it in conjunction with
Scripture. The first thing God did with
people in the garden was to have a wedding.
Then we don’t really see anything about parenting until we get to Cain
and Abel. That was a mess! Then came
Noah--that too did not have the best of outcomes as far as a parent-child
relationship is concerned. How about
King David and his progeny? We can go
on and on about so many examples of parent-child relationship run-a-muck. Why?
Because the parent-child relationship is not the core of the family; it is the husband-wife relationship that is
of the utmost importance.
In fact, the demise of a family is often when
one or the other parent walls off in the marriage relationship in order to
focus on parenting.
Study after study makes it clear that
children are better off with a mother and a father in a marriage
relationship. Please take note of the
following statement: Children raised in intact married families are more
likely to attend college, are physically and emotionally healthier, are less
likely to be physically or sexually abused, less likely to use drugs or alcohol
and to commit delinquent behaviors, have a decreased risk of divorcing when
they get married, are less likely to become pregnant/impregnate someone as a
teenager, and are less likely to be raised in poverty. ("Why
Marriage Matters: 26 Conclusions from the Social Sciences," Bradford
Wilcox, Institute for American Values.)
So, if the dad in the t-shirt really wanted
to be the “best dad” his shirt should have said, “My goal is to be a great dad,
so I will commit to love my wife and his mother as my number one priority!” OK, that is a bit wordy, but I believe you
get the idea. In fact, maybe you can come
up with better wording! Share your ideas
on our Facebook page—we would love to see them!
Here’s to happy parenting through better
marriages!