Raising 'God's Children': Advice to Fathers from Henry Blackaby

Written by Bill Watkins

Henry Blackaby's legacy will be felt across the globe, where Christians learn to experience God and be the men and women God uses. But he's leaving a more personal legacy through his family, who serve God and the church with the same devotion and vision.

Blackaby is a hard-working, in-demand minister with an international platform, a former pastor, church planter, and founder of the Canadian Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is perhaps best known as author of Experiencing God, On Mission with God, The Man God Uses, and other resources that have significantly impacted the church over the past decade.

Yet in the midst of accomplishing so much, he and his wife Marilynn have raised five children, all now grown and involved in Christian ministry: Sons Tom and Mel are pastors. Son Richard is a seminary president. Son Norm is director of training and development for Henry Blackaby Ministries. Daughter Carrie is a missionary to Germany.

His parenting secret? Blackaby would emphasize to other busy fathers the importance of the roles of God, home, and church in raising children.

"Our children are God's, not ours," he asserts. "The Lord tells us that as fathers we are to raise the children He gives us by creating an atmosphere where they can come to know Him personally. A God-centered home is a place where there is an awareness of the presence, purpose, and ways of God.

"One of God's ways is to meet our needs through the body of Christ," he says of the local church. "The world works one-on-one, but God's way is corporate. As Christians we need to help each other be fathers and mothers. We need a godly interdependence on each other."

What more can fathers do to raise their children? Blackaby has three suggestions.

1. "Fathers need to develop a real, thorough, personal relationship with God. All our resources come from Him. This involves looking to Scripture and finding prayer critical to this relationship. Prayer gets us in line with God's will, and Scripture cleanses our life.
   
2. "Fathers need to establish integrity in their hearts, especially as they relate to God. We need to know who we are and who God is-and not confuse the two.
   
3. "Fathers need to have a very practical, genuine love relationship with God that flows to their children. The description of love given in I Corinthians 13 is what we need to apply."

Bill Watkins is an author and freelance writer.

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