What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent?

What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent in the lives of their children? We’ll start by saying that Jesus Christ loves children and will not encourage the abandonment of any child. Remember Jesus said it would be better for a person to put a millstone around their neck than to have one of the little ones to walk away from him. Mark 10:13-16 says, People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Abandonment is a highly related word for giving up. And as we know, the opposite of giving up is perseverance or endurance – two qualities encouraged for Christians (2 Thessalonians 1:4; Romans 5:3; James 1:3). By persevering through difficulties or weariness, we are refusing to give up on what the Lord God Almighty has called us to do. And behold, the Lord God Almighty has called each and every parent to guide and teach their children His ways. We are highly encouraged in Galatians 6:9 never to give up: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Following this Scripture, we should avoid abandoning our children despite the challenges that come our way. Rather, we should pray for strength and God’s intervention.

What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent?

A good number of factors can cause people to consider giving up or abandoning a child. The first is discouragement or loss of hope. Let’s consider the case of a wayward child who becomes a thorn in the parent’s flesh. After a lot of struggles to bring back the child to order without success, the parents are likely to lose hope or become discouraged. At such a point, what quickly comes to mind is to abandon the child. However, abandoning is not always the best solution as there is always hope wherever Jesus Christ is involved. Another factor is pride, whereby parents take on a challenge, confident of their own abilities to bring back the child to order just to end up worsening the situation. We should rather look onto God and not on our strength.

Also, some parents turn to abandon their children when severely stroke by life challenges such as financial difficulties. It is rather unfortunate but such should not be the case. As Christians, we should rather draw closer to God for strength and help when facing challenges. The Bible tells us that God is faithful and will hear and answer His children whenever they call on Him. It is important for us to understand that Children are a blessing from God entrusted in the hands of parents. And as such, it is expected of them to guide these children to embrace the ways of the Lord God Almighty. That is, teaching them the ways and Laws of God. Thus, whatever be the situation that we are going through with our children, let’s look not on our strength but on God’s for things to turn to our good.

What The Scriptures Say

The Scriptures make us understand that God has put parents in charge of the children that He blesses them with. And as a result, it is not making sense to abandon any. Also, the scriptures exhort us that, when we are on the path that the Lord God Almighty has ordained for us, we are not to give up (Philippians 4:1; Galatians 5:1; Revelation 3:10). In Christ, we are able. Also, God will not give us a task that will be more than us. When we are perseverant, God will give us the strength and resources to accomplish the task He gives us. Nehemiah never gave up the construction of Jerusalem’s walls, despite the fierce opposition that he faced.

Likewise, Caleb did not give up on the promise of God, and he conquered a giant-infested, fortified hill country when he was 85 years old. Jesus also persevered all the way to the cross. Hebrews 12:3 says, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” By giving up too soon, we tend to lose out on all God planned to do through and for us. Giving up or abandoning a Godly given task is not called for and as Christians, we should stay steadfast to carrying out the task God has put us in charge of. And such is the case of rightly raising up our children in His ways.

What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

1 Timothy 5:8 – “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Psalm 27:10 – “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.”

Isaiah 49:15 – “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.“

Ephesians 6:4 – “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Titus 3:10-11 – “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.”

Deuteronomy 31:8 – “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.“

Colossians 3:21 – “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”

Group 1 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Isaiah 49:15-16 – “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”

Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Proverbs 13:24 – “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.“

Psalm 37:28 – “For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.“

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Genesis 2:24 – “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.“

Group 2 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Hebrews 13:5 – Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Genesis 18:19 – “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

Leviticus 26:11-12 – “I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”

Psalm 23:1-6 – “A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...”

Deuteronomy 31:6 – “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Group 3 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Joshua 1:5 – “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.”

Isaiah 41:10 – “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Hebrews 13:5-6 – Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

James 1:27 – “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

John 1:12 – “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”

Psalm 34:18 – “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

Matthew 27:46 – And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Group 4 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Ephesians 6:1-4 – “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.“

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Psalm 68:5 – “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.“

2 Timothy 4:16-17 – “At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.“

1 Peter 5:7 – “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.“

Proverbs 17:6 – “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.”

Group 5 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Psalm 23:1 – “A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.“

2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Proverbs 19:18 – “Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.”

Mark 15:34 – And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Colossians 2:1-23 – “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. …“

Group 6 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Matthew 5:44 – “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,“

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 – “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.“

Psalm 142:1-5 – “A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer. With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him. When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”“

Proverbs 22:15 – “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.”

Group 7 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Joshua 1:9 – “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 82:3-4 – “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

2 Corinthians 4:7-9 – “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;“

Deuteronomy 4:9 – “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—“

Group 8 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Luke 12:6-7 – “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

John 16:1-4 – “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

Titus 2:4 – “And so train the young women to love their husbands and children,”

Mark 9:42 – “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

Philippians 1:6 – “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Malachi 4:6 – “And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

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Group 9 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Isaiah 54:13 – “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.“

Jeremiah 22:3 – “Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.”

Exodus 20:12 – “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 – “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.“

Group 10 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Colossians 3:20 – “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.“

2 Timothy 4:16 – “At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!“

Ephesians 5:33 – “However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.“

John 16:1 – “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.“

Matthew 19:3-9 – And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” …

Group 11 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Proverbs 23:13-14 – “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.”

Matthew 5:31-32 – “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

1 Corinthians 7:1-40 – “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. …“

Group 12 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Psalm 113:9 – “He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!“

1 Corinthians 7:15 – “But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.“

1 Peter 3:7 – “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

2 Timothy 1:5 – “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.“

Malachi 2:14 – But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

1 Timothy 5:3 – “Honor widows who are truly widows.”

Group 13 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Mark 10:13-16 – “And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.“

1 Timothy 3:4 – “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,”

Isaiah 3:1-26 – “For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable. …“

Group 14 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Psalm 16:8 – “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”

Matthew 18:15-17 – “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Revelation 1:1-20 – “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. …“

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Group 15 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

1 Chronicles 16:11 – “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!“

Proverbs 29:17 – “Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.”

Ephesians 6:2-3 – “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

Psalm 146:9 – “The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.“

Ephesians 6:1-3 – Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

Psalm 31:22 – I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.

Luke 1:37 – “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Proverbs 1:8 – “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,”

Group 16 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

John 13:34-35 – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Psalm 127:3-5 – “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”

1 Peter 2:1-25 – “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. …“

Group 17 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Romans 1:30 – “Slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,“

Philippians 4:19 – “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Proverbs 29:15 – “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”

John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Hebrews 13:1-25 – “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” …“

Group 18 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

Matthew 18:10 – “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”

Luke 2:51 – “And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.”

Deuteronomy 11:19 – “You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.“

Leviticus 19:17-18 – “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Ephesians 5:11 – “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

Group 19 – What Does The Bible Say About Fathers Being Absent

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

2 Thessalonians 3:10 – “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.“

Deuteronomy 27:19 – “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’