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FATHERHOOD BEGINS WITH, REVOLVES AROUND, AND CULMINATES IN GOD THE FATHER. There cannot be full fatherhood in any person without that person first coming into and under God's Fatherhood. We can be dedicated, consecrated Christians, but still not know the Father! Fatherhood goes far beyond a person training, teaching, counseling, guiding, and what most call "mentoring" another person. But mentoring is NOT fathering. A mentor is defined as follows: "A wise, loyal advisor or counselor; a teacher, coach, guide, or tutor." Certainly these practices are included in and related to fatherhood, but THESE PRACTICES ALONE DO NOT CONSTITUTE FATHERHOOD. A mentor can offer guidance and knowledge; counsel and advice; even a dimension of wisdom and example. But there are some big differences between a mentor and a father. A father CAN BE, and IS the most effective mentor that there is. One who is a father is also a mentor. But one who is only a mentor is not a father. The Apostle Paul distinguished between a mentor and a father in 1 Corinthians 4:15, when he said, "For though ye have ten thousand INSTRUCTORS in Christ, yet have ye NOT MANY FATHERS..." This word "instructors" in the Greek actually means, "...a boy leader whose office it is to take the children to school; a tutor...instructor". Yes, a mentor or mentoring traits are helpful and beneficial. But a mentor wields no authority over your soul (mind, emotions, and will) and cannot produce obedience in you. Only a father can do that! A father gives you his nature and seed. It is inborn - it is the core makeup of your being. Then it is his responsibility to conform your soul to the will of God. So, by his authority, a father will require your obedience to the truth and to the will of God, and to all that is right. A true son, like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, will surrender and submit his will to and obey the correct will of The Father/his father. A father raises and rears you, forms and molds you, sets you right, changes, and rectifies you. This rightly-wielded, fathering authority that produces and requires obedience to God was found in Abraham. That is why God the Father was able to bring upon Abraham all of his promised destiny to become the father of many nations...
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