Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday December 12, 2007

I received a letter from a friend of many years. Her father and I were grand friends and served the Lord together. In the course of years he went to glory, the girl married and after years of cheating and all that goes with it, she finally walked away with her two children. Bitter was the cup of her life for long years. And then, and then it seemed that some miraculous transformation had taken place and many of us watched with bated breath and hoped the unthinkable was on the verge of happening before our very eyes. This was not to be and the brief refrain from father to child neglect soon reared its ugly head again and true colors surfaced in cruel, even brutal actions of pure hatefulness.

The note said, and I conceal the identity as best the pen in human hand can:

"Please say a prayer for a real need. Ex-husband had promised daughter he would pay for a season at noted Christian College. Now with but a few days left, and several thousand dollars still due on the account said Ex is not sure he is going to honor his word to the fruit of his loins. With my poor credit I have no way to get or even co-sign for a loan. The tuition is payable no later than this week or she will have to forget college."

The note continues, but it would not serve the purpose of this rant to cite more of this heartbreaking news concerning a child who was at one time, "Daddy's little girl." Such is life in the year of our Lord 2007.

Please cut me a little slack. I already know there is no loss of job or cut in pay or any of the legitimate reasons for this failure to keep a promise, just an evil mean spirited whim to mentally and emotionally torment his girl. I wish this letter was unique. You know it is not. In this case over the years, the man in question has appeared before the judge numerous times for failure to support, and again, the job was there, the newer cars and other trappings of a successful man, yet he just did not care enough to fulfill his civil and biblical responsibility to provide for his own household as Paul admonished. Is this rare? It is not rare, but pandemic and children not only suffer, often numbing privation, but they are subjected to humiliation in that they think there must be something wrong with them else their dad would love and provide for them.

Israel's great and wise King Solomon wrote a little verse about fathers and children in Proverbs 17:6:

"Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers."

The verse speaks of grandchildren, talk to Joyce about them, and the wise King comes right out and states a well known, easily observable and psychological fact, "the glory of children are their FATHERS." It takes a father many years and myriads of hurtful deeds to lose the love and respect of their children. But many men are persistent in their warped determination to drive any and all love for them from the heart of their children.

We are told in Malachi 4:6 "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

No one doubts that many of societies current problems are related to the breakdown of the nuclear family and the scriptures put the onus on the father. Little men cannot handle this.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2007 Use with credit.

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