For nearly 100 years, families have celebrated Father’s Day honoring fathers, grandfathers and other paternal figures.
Actually, Father’s Day started in 1909. Sonora Smart Dodd, a young person in Spokane, Washington, was listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in church. Sonora’s mother had died in childbirth, and her father, Henry Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran and farmer, was raising Sonora and her five siblings as a single parent. Sonora decided, then and there, to celebrate a special day to honor her father.
In 1924, U.S. President Calvin Coolidge officially urged Americans to celebrate a national Father’s Day. By 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a Presidential Proclamation, designating the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day. President Richard M. Nixon signed a 1972 bill, making the holiday legal, official and permanent.
Family gatherings fill our calendars, as we scour greeting card stores for Father’s Day cards and gifts to recognize the fathers and paternal figures we love.
How can we make our Father’s Day cards and letters more memorable? What can we include, to make our Father’s Day salutations more special? How about selecting a Bible verse or two to fit Father’s Day?
Father’s Day-Appropriate Scriptures
Choosing personalized passages (Bible verses) from the Word of God is a super way to make a Father’s Day greeting card or Father’s Day gift unique and meaningful.
Are you handy with your computer? How about selecting several Scriptures and printing them on card stock, then cutting them into stacks and constructing a personalized packet of Bible memory cards for Father’s Day? Choose the translation you like best, as you pick out your Bible verses. (Several Bible translations and their online links are listed at the end of this article.)
Perhaps you will decide to create a Scripture bookmark, magnet or laminated bookmark for a wonderful father. If you are particularly crafty, you might cross-stitch or embroider favorite Bible verses onto a Father’s Day throw pillow, eyeglasses case, golf towel, coaster set, baseball cap or other great Father’s Day gift item.
Here’s another option. You could print a Bible verse or two from your computer on iron-on transfer paper and imprint the Scriptures onto a tee shirt or tote bag for Father’s Day.
Or you could include a special Father’s Day-appropriate Bible verse on a scrapbook page or cover. After your family’s Father’s Day celebration, if you are able to gather for one, you might collect the Father’s Day photographs and arrange them in the scrapbook as a Father’s Day gift.
You may already have a few favorite Bible verses that have particular meaning for your favorite father. Here are ten super Father’s Day-appropriate Scriptures to get you started. (Scripture reference links have been included, so you can easily find these Bible verses in an online Bible.)
Top Ten Bible Promises for Fathers
Here are our top ten most memorable and meaningful Bible verses for fathers, arranged in biblical order. (The online links are provided for additional convenience and further study.)
“I know, my God,
that You examine our hearts
and rejoice when You find
integrity there.”
(1 Chronicles 29:17a, NLT)
If you have been blessed with a father, grandfather or paternal figure filled with personal integrity, then you have been blessed indeed. Father’s Day is an excellent time to affirm such an authentic individual with this Bible verse. Even as God rejoices in a man of integrity, as the Scriptures clearly reveal, so does the family.
A Father’s Courage
“Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be terrified;
do not be discouraged,
for the LORD your God
will be with you
wherever you go.”
(Joshua 1:9, NIV)
In many families, the father may be called to courage in trying times. If the father offers bold faith in God and solid Scriptural leadership in the home, the entire family will benefit. This Bible verse, taken from God’s emboldening instructions to Joshua, is particularly appropriate for a Father’s Day affirmation of a strong, faith-filled father.
A Father’s Father
“Father to the fatherless,
defender of widows –
this is God,
whose dwelling is holy.
God places the lonely in families;
He sets the prisoners free
and gives them joy.
But He makes the rebellious
live in a sun-scorched land.”
(Psalm 68:5-6, NLT)
Faith-based counselors often teach that a person’s concept of God is greatly influenced by the sort of father that person knew as a child. If you are fortunate enough to have enjoyed the love and leadership of a loving father figure in your life, then Father’s Day is an excellent time to let him know how much you have appreciated him.
Even if you were not so fortunate, these two Bible verses contain a wonderful promise for all of us. God desires for us to look to Him as our loving Heavenly Father, who tenderly cares for us. King David expressed this amazing Scriptural truth this way:
“You’ve kept track
of my every toss and turn
through the sleepless nights,
each tear entered in Your ledger,
each ache written in your book.”
(Psalm 56:8, MSG)
God knows every tear and every sorrow of His children, and He longs to fill in the gaps that earthly fathers may have failed to fill, on Father’s Day and always.
A Father’s Compassion
“Just as a father has compassion
on his children,
So the Lord has compassion
on those who fear Him.”
(Psalm 103:13, NASB)
A compassionate father is a wonderful gift. What better opportunity could one find than Father’s Day to express appreciation, as this Bible verse says, to a father who loves the Lord and his family wholeheartedly and with compassion?
A Father’s Legacy
“The father of one
who is right with God
will have much joy.
He who has a wise son
will be glad in him.”
(Proverbs 23:24, NLV)
Unfortunately, children and parents may disagree and even drift apart during certain seasons of their lives. This may be particularly true during the preteen and teen years. However, when fathers and sons or daughters are able to reconnect and find their admiration and love for one another, they are truly blessed.
Father’s Day is a super time to honor this special bond between father and child, even adult child. This Bible verse clearly reflects the beauty of such a blessing.
A Father’s Wisdom
“I guide you
in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
When you walk,
your steps will not be hampered;
when you run,
you will not stumble.
Hold on to instruction,
do not let it go;
guard it well,
for it is your life.”
(Proverbs 4:11-13, NIV)
What father of faith has not prayed for wisdom, discernment and clear thinking, particularly during difficult moments of decision? These Bible verses, taking from the book of Psalms, offer God’s promise of wisdom to those who will ask for it.
This Scripture promise is echoed in the New Testament. James, the brother of Jesus, expresses this truth here:
“If any of you lacks wisdom,
he should ask God,
who gives generously to all
without finding fault,
and it will be given to him.”
(James 1:5, NIV)
A wise father makes good choices for his whole family, as well as his own life. If you have such a father, then Father’s Day is one chance for you to affirm him.
A Father’s Blessing
“A righteous man
who walks in his integrity –
How blessed are his sons
after him.”
(Proverbs 20:7, NASB)
Integrity can be contagious, especially in families. What a wonderful legacy for a father to share with his children. This Bible verse from the Old Testament book of Proverbs, is an ideal Scripture promise for Father’s Day.
A Father’s Promise
“{Elijah} will lead children and parents
to love each other more,
so that when I come,
I won’t bring doom to the land.”
(Malachi 4:6, CEV)
In the Old Testament, as God’s prophets called His people to return to faith, God sent this message of promise. This Scripture is an appropriate Bible verse for Father’s Day as well, because a faith-filled father is called to be a prophet in his own home, calling his family to greater faith in God.
A Father’s Love
“Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
Love never fails.”
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, NIV)
The “love chapter” of the Bible (1 Corinthians 13) is most often read at weddings and wedding anniversaries. However, this Scripture is apt for Father’s Day too. Can you insert a special father’s name in each verse, in place of the words “love” and “it”? If you can do this and read the verses honestly, then you are fortunate.
A loving father points the whole family to the love of God, on Father’s Day and all year long.
A Father’s Fruit
“But the Holy Spirit
produces this kind of fruit
in our lives:
love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against these things!”
(Galatians 5:22-23, NLT)
In his letter to the church at Galatia, the Apostle Paul listed key character traits that ought to become evident in the life of the Spirit-filled believer. The fruit of the Spirit is a Scriptural character description for the mature follower of Christ.
These Bible verses are super for Father’s Day greetings, if you have a special father who exhibits this blessed bounty.
Father’s Day greetings and Father’s Day gatherings present wonderful opportunities for children, grandchildren and other special people to give fathers thoughtful and practical gifts. Why not purchase a classic study Bible for a special father? As a bonus, you might add a few pretty bookmarks listing favorite Bible verses to your Father’s Day gift.
You can order a custom-embossed Bible with a special father’s own name imprinted on the front cover. Bible bookstores and online Bible retailers offer this service for just a few dollars. What a wonderful way to encourage a special father and build a lasting memory and legacy.
