Fallen Heroes: A Devotional for Dads Who Struggle With PornExemplo

It’s really tough to be a good dad when you still have your own daddy issues. And any man who looks long enough and hard enough at his past is going to find deep wounds and scars inflicted by his father’s failure.

We all have daddy issues. I have the best relationship with my dad of anyone I know, and I have daddy issues too.

Why? Because just like we’re fallen heroes our dads were fallen heroes too.

Maybe your dad failed to talk to you about sex. Maybe he left you on your own to figure it out, and porn got you that way. Maybe your dad left his porn lying around and you were exposed. Maybe he abused you.

If we’re going to celebrate God as the dad and hero we can’t be, we’re going to have to deal with our own dads.

Psalm 68:5 says God is the Father of the fatherless. Yes, your dad let you down, but the Heavenly Father will never let you down. You may have been abandoned and left with deep emotional wounds, but you are not imprisoned by those wounds. Your Heavenly Father, the perfect dad, leads you out of captivity from your past.

He calls you to confront your past so you can be freed from it. And God frees you from the failures of your dad and fills the father-shaped hole in your life.

Verse 6 says the Father leads you out of prison into a prosperous life with Him. There’s no flourishing for the rebellious who hang on tight to the misery of the past, clinging to bitterness against their fathers, and blaming them for their own failures. The psalmist calls this living in a scorched land. But there’s freedom when you turn humbly to God. The wounds your dad inflicted on you will hold you in bondage until you’re able to honestly deal with them, forgive him, and turn to God for healing and grace.

Reflection:

1. Honestly reflect on your disappointments with your dad. How he let you down. How he failed to be the perfect father you wanted and needed.

2. Forgive your father for his failures.

3. Cling to your Heavenly Father. Ask for His mercy and grace to lead you out of bondage into a life of flourishing.