Fatherhood

In the April 2004 LDS General Conference, Elder L Tom Perry gave a talk titled “Fatherhood, An Eternal Calling”. In his address he stresses the importance of the eternal callings that fathers have. Heavenly Father has given guidance through the scriptures and prophets how the roles of the family should function and that a family needs a father to anchor it. Five important points in his talk were that a father should be a presider, partner, provider, professor, and a protector.

The father is the one who presides in the family; he is the head in his family. Elder Perry stresses that leadership in the home should involve leading the following; family prayer, family home evening, at meals, teaching correct principles, giving direction, family rules and discipline. He quoted a statement given by The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the June 2002 Ensign that says, ”Fatherhood is leadership, the most important kind of leadership. It has always been so; it always will be so. Father, with the assistance and counsel and encouragement of your eternal companion, you preside in the home. It is not a matter of whether you are most worthy or best qualified, but it is a matter of [divine] appointment.”

The father is to be a partner with his wife. It is important for the father to be a leader with the wife as a companion. A wife is provided a way to fulfill her role as a mother in the home when the father’s role is to provide for the family, to achieve this husband and wife need to work together to meet Heavenly Fathers divine roles and counsel that he has given to be both providers and nurturers. Elder Perry stated in his talk that, “there is not a president or a vice president in a family. The couple works together eternally for the good of the family. They are united together in word, in deed, and in action as they lead, guide, and direct their family unit. They are on equal footing. They plan and organize the affairs of the family jointly and unanimously as they move forward.”

The father is the provider for his family. As mentioned earlier it is important for the father to be a leader with his wife as a companion. They are responsible to preside over their families in love and righteousness and also provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Elder Perry said, “Fathers, by divine decree, you are to preside over your family units. This is a sobering responsibility and the most important one you will ever assume, for it is an eternal responsibility. You place the family in its proper priority. It’s the part of your life that will endure beyond the grave.”

The father is a professor, one who teaches the family by precept and also by example. He quoted another statement from The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from the June 2002 Ensign that says, “When you recognize the importance of teaching your children, you become humble, because at once you realize that this is accomplished by precept and example. You cannot be one thing and effectively teach another. You must live and study and pray for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. You must purify and organize your life so that your example and leadership reflect the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The father is a protector for his family from physical and spiritual harm. A father protects his family by providing shelter. He is able to keep his family physically safe by providing a home. He is able to keep is family spiritually safe by keeping the temptations of the adversary out of the home and inviting the spirit in. Another quote Elder Perry read in his talk was one from President Joseph F. Smith “Brethren, there is too little religious devotion, love, and fear of God, in the home; too much worldliness, selfishness, indifference, and lack of reverence in the family, or it never would exist so abundantly on the outside. Then, the home is what needs reforming. Try today, and tomorrow, to make a change in your home.”

My Father has been a big influence to me in my life and I hope to find a future husband with some of his same qualities. In my future family, to ensure father involvement in the lives of my children I hope to do some of the same things my father has by being involved and doing activities with the whole family from things like; family home evening, family prayer, family scripture study, working together on family projects, teaching the family new things and much more. I know that I want to have my future husband to be a father that is involved with his children because I have seen how it has blessed my life, and I have also seen how it has destroyed families when a father is not involved. I know that the counsel that the prophets have given us from Heavenly Father are to be taken seriously because it is divine. The role of a father is needed in a family to anchor them righteously.

Link to Elder Perry's talk: Fatherhood, an Eternal Calling