In a world where single mothers are empowered, children are encouraged to seek advice from peers or the internet, and media screams that marriage and children will hold a man down, it is nearly impossible to pin point the actual role of a father. Fatherhood has become such an elusive term that many people, men and women alike, have come to discount the extremely important fundamentals that only a father can give to his children. In the Family Proclamation to the World, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints stated that a father’s essential roles in the family are to provide, preside, and to protect. I would also add that a father is a preparer and a playmate. Together these five P’s represent one of the most precious gifts that can only come from a father.
A father is a playmate to his children. When a father becomes a human jungle gym for his children he does more than wear out his back. As fathers are more likely to engage in this type of play than mothers, they are able to give their children the necessary play they need to increase muscle and coordination development. Behaviorally, this play dynamic is usually the first place where a child will learn how interact with others by taking turns and by understanding where the limits of going too far are with their rough housing. By being a constructive playmate, a father can very early help his children develop healthy in growth and behavior.
Fathers help prepare their children to be able to stand on their own two feet physically and spiritually. Fathers set the example of how to be responsible, hard working, and being honest. These attributes are highly commendable in adults. Children who aspire to be like their fathers in these areas will do well as adults. Spiritually, fathers prepare their children for the Celestial Kingdom through the priesthood. It is the father’s role to give a child a baby blessing, perform their baptism and give them the gift of the Holy Ghost, take them to the temple starting at age 12, ordain their sons to the offices of the priesthood, as well as be a witness at the sealing for marriage. With constant care, encouragement, and actions a father “leads [his] family to the temple” and ultimately prepares them to return to their Father in heaven.
While a father prepares their children for the world, they also protect them from it. As a protector, it is a father’s duty to be “guardians of virtue. Virtuous behavior implies that you have pure thoughts and clean actions”. If a father lives a life of virtue it will affect the entire family. By not allowing the influences of the world into his home he is protecting children from them. When a father stands up for what he believes in with all the integrity of his heart he protects his children not only from what is bad in this world, but also from creating a mistrusting relationship with that which is good. By protecting what is good, sacred, and dear to his heart he distills a form of respect for these things in his children’s eyes.
It might be cliché to say that a man is the breadwinner of the family, but it is important to know that a father is responsible to provide for his family. Physically, it is the father’s job to make sure his children (and wife) have the basic necessities. However a father can provide so much more than food, clothes, and shelter to his family. I am extremely grateful for all the hard work that my dad has done to provide for my family, but the one thing he provided for me that I cherish most is his love and testimony for the church. My father has had his fair share of hardships, but the one thing he has always succeeded in is providing for his family.
The definition of preside is “to hold the position of authority”. The authority a father holds is the priesthood. Though this authority it is the father’s responsibility to lead his family in love and righteousness. This doesn’t mean that they are the head honcho or the family dictator, but rather the person who guides his family to do that which is right. He should have a close relationship with his children’s mother so that the children know that while their father presides, their parents are a team. Father’s would do their family a huge service to take responsibility to make sure everything is structured and ordered.
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