The first observance of a day honoring fathers was held on July 5, 1908, at a Methodist church in West Virginia.  In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson wanted to establish a federal holiday honoring fathers, but he could not get Congress to agree. President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that a special day be observed throughout the entire nation, but he stopped short at issuing a national proclamation establishing Father’s Day. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972. So it seems like it has taken a lot of time and effort to convince people that we needed a day honoring fathers.

That could be because fathers often don’t act very honorably. Especially in some communities, fathers act very dishonorably. Many children have little or nothing good to say about their fathers. That is a real tragedy, and our nation is suffering because of absent and deadbeat dads.

But we know that many fathers are honorable, and it’s appropriate that we have a special day honoring them.

We all could think of many ways to show our appreciation for our dads on Father’s Day. No doubt, many of us fathers will receive special cards or gifts, and I imagine that most of us will enjoy a special meal and maybe our favorite dessert. Maybe we’ll spend some family time together, perhaps doing something that dad enjoys or going somewhere dad wants to go. All these special efforts are designed to honor dads.

Making your dad a special meal or a favorite dessert are ways of honoring your dad, but such things are temporary. Shouldn’t we try to honor fathers as a way of life? Are there more permanent and meaningful ways of honoring dads?

Yes, and the Bible gives us several things we can do to honor our fathers in a more permanent and meaningful way. Let’s look at a few ways we can honor fathers throughout the year and throughout our lives.