A few days ago I stumbled on a page of the Punch Newspaper of October 2nd, 2016. It was the column ‘Famous Parents’ on page 48 of the newspaper. The interview was done by Gbenga Adeniji with Olumide, a son of the late popular lawyer, political activist and founder of the Nigeria Advance Party, Dr Tunji Braithwaite. Olumide shared the story of his late father’s life but I just want to focus on an extract of the interview.
“My father was the chief priest of the house. We have a chapel in the house. At 7am on daily basis, he would ring a bell and all of us including the house help must assemble to worship and sing praises to God. My older siblings were training on how to play piano and they would play corresponding tune to the hymn being sung. We would then be selected to say prayer one after the other. The worship always lasted for 30 minutes after which we could leave to start our daily activities. Some relatives lived with us at the time,” Olumide said in the interview.
“In the evening, the bell would be rung again and we repeat what we did in the morning. The only addition to the worship was a study of the bible and we would take turns to ask questions on the scripture read. We read the bible both in Yoruba and English. Some of his favourite biblical characters were King David and Moses. Thus all of us were conversant with the bible,” he said.
Ideally, the father should be the spiritual leader of the home, the high priest and the prophet of the family. The father should be a spiritual leader who leads the wife and children in living a Godly life. He should lead by example. He should be seen daily praying and reading the scripture. Each child should be given a Godly foundation that will shape the child’s future and belief system.
A father should be submitted to God so he could lead his wife and children to submit to God. A father should be there in his family to offer spiritual guidance, direction and counsel. When it comes to spirituality, a father should be the first chief priest and superhero in spiritual matters. Not taking up this responsibility is abdicating your responsibility as a father. You owe it to the society and to your family to build a Godly foundation for your offspring. There is a vacuum in everybody’s lifetime where nothing else can fill except the knowledge of and relationship with your creator.
One of the greatest security you can give to your spouse and your children is spiritual security. As a father you have to train your children to depend on God, not just growing up with the self-sufficient capacity of making decisions without first consulting their creator. As a father, it is very important for you to point your children to their heavenly father. Teach your children to see God as the rock that is a shelter, refuge and defender. As an earthly father, model to your child the attributes of God the heavenly father.
As a father, I want to suggest that you introduce the attributes of God to your family. God is a spirit. God is all powerful, he can help them with anything. God knows everything, they can go to him with all their questions and concerns. God is just, he will treat them fairly. God is love, he is unconditionally committed to their well-being. God is faithful, they should trust him to always keep his promises. God never changes, their future is secure with God.
As a father, you must not abandon the spiritual ship. As the captain, you are the man and the head of the family. When you married your wife, you initiated the formation of a family. Don’t let go of the steering wheel of spirituality in your home. You are the pilot, your spouse is just a co-pilot, so take charge, drive your family’s spiritual needs and cares. As you intentionally work toward succeeding as a professional and in the society, let it be a special honour that all people that carry your surname have you as their chief priest and prophet. No marriage thrives and enjoys the blessings that come with marriage if the family downplays spirituality or takes the one who instituted marriage out of the equation.
As a father, when your spouse and your child are having a bad day, facing a challenge or when they are in trouble, they need encouragement to go through the challenging time. Do you know how to direct them to God and direct their case to God on their behalf? Sir, you are the best for the position of the head of your family, ask your Maker for help and wisdom to lead your family and He will surely grant it.
