To Walk In Your Shoes

What are lacking in our society today are good role models, godly role models. Most athletes don’t make good role models. Most television and movie stars do not make good role models. What our kids need is for us to be their role models and to live Christ before their eyes daily. Will we make mistakes? Yes. Will we at times fail? Yes. But may God help us to put forth the effort.

Kids love to literally walk in their mother and father’s shoes, but even more to speak like them, act like them and live like them. Would you want your child to live just like you? It is an awesome responsibility to be a father and to impart your love, instruction and wisdom to your kids.

Proverbs 20:7 says, “The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.” Men of integrity are hard to come by nowadays. Integrity is made up of honesty, sincerity, truth, courage, humility and honor. God is looking for a few good men, a few good fathers to lead the way to Him and for Him. Kids will follow. Kids long to be with their dads and to be like their dads.

There’s a sad Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.” On Saturday, eight hundred Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.

Fathers have something that only they can give their sons and daughters: themselves. Kids today are desperately seeking for the love of their fathers. Fathers get so busy, but are they really too busy to love, too busy to care, too busy to spend time with their kids?

Time passes so fast and before one knows it — kids are grown up and become adults themselves shaped by their upbringing. Thank God for godly fathers who dare to care. Today is their day. Today is a day to love, honor and thank those wonderful fathers who made our lives possible and beautiful. Let’s walk in their shoes.