I Thessalonians 2:12
“encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”
Our last time in Thessalonians, Paul said he treated them in a fatherly manner. This passage describes those traits. He was encouraging, comforting and motivating them to be better.
A father is to be encouraging. To be encouraging means that one is feeling discouraged. It’s the opposite of hopeful. The child was once eager, but something removed that hope. It may have been repeated failure. There may have been unfriendly people that have been hurtful. It like a balloon that’s been deflated. The father inflates and builds up. He can see the defeated little one and understand the pain. To encourage is to rekindle hope.
A father is to be comforting. Our culture hasn’t typically branded a father as comforting. Paul does. To comfort implies that one is hurting. To comfort is to be present physically and emotionally. To listen and be there for others.
Lastly, Paul says a father motivates others to live lives worthy of God. Adults see the “next steps” for their children. An understanding parent motives in a patient way. This is where it’s easy for fathers to fall short. We tend to be impatient and pushy. Paul addresses this in Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
To further the point of being understanding Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” The primary message is to raise a child in the Lord. I’ve also heard it said that a subtler idea is to “train a child according to his way”. The point is that kids are all very different. We can’t treat all our children the same, nor should we compare them to each other in any way.
Lord, thanks for the fatherhood training. Help us to be better.