TOOL #10: Dynamic, Whole-Person Support

It is critically important for you to support your family emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually and not just financially.

““Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. . . . Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31, NIV

“I always thought growing up that a father’s job was just to “bring home the bacon.” And while that is part of it, I now see that there’s a lot more to it than just that.”
Joe C., Long Island, New York

What does it mean for a father to support his family? When I heard that term, I used to think only of financial support. I would bet that most fathers have that same reaction, especially those of us who grew up in North America. But financial support, while important, is only one part of the critical support we need to provide for our families. In fact, I would argue that American culture puts too much importance on financial support while placing too little emphasis on emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual support. The reality is that these four elements of the Dynamic, Whole-Person Support Tool are like the four tires on your car. If one is fully pumped up but the others are half inflated, your car isn’t going anywhere fast.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that fathers don’t need to bring home the proverbial bacon. We sure do, sometimes by ourselves and sometimes with our wife’s help. And sometimes, if things are tough on the job front, it might be up to our wife alone (hopefully for only a short amount of time) to support the family financially. Being a financial supporter for the family is a critical support role that fathers must play. But it is only one of his roles. So let’s take a look at the other four.

Emotional Support
What is emotional support? Why is it important? And how do you as a dad supply it anyway? Here’s a secondary question I hear a lot from fellow dads: Isn’t the emotional support for our kids supposed to come primarily from the mom? Aren’t women naturally wired to be emotionally supportive?

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