Dad, you have such an important role in the lives of your children.  God calls parents to be the primary disciple makers of their children (Deuteronomy 6:1-7), and fathers are to be the spiritual leader of the home (Ephesians 6:4).  In light of that, here are The 10 Most Important Gifts A Dad Can Give This Christmas.

1. The gift of the Gospel – More important than a loving family, a roof over your head, things wrapped in colorful paper, or world peace this Christmas is that you, as Dad, articulate to your children the hope of Jesus.  God took on flesh and lived the life we should’ve lived, died the death we deserved to die, and rose from the dead to give us new life in Him.  This isn’t just something they need to hear from pastors and church leaders, it is vital that they hear it from the lips of their earthly father.  You don’t have to be a Bible scholar or preacher to do this.  Maybe it is as simple as taking time to read Luke 2:1-21 and talking about why that is important.  Dad, you are the spiritual leader God has for your household.  What an honor!
2. The gift of being a good husband – Children need to see their father loving their mom and honoring her in front of them.  Praise her in front of them.  Be affectionate in front of them (even if it grosses them out a little).  They need that. It sets the precedent for how men should treat women in general, and more specifically how a husband should lay down his life for his bride. Your marriage is a living display of the Gospel (Ephesians 5:22-33).
3. The gift of face time – Let’s be honest and stop blaming children for their lack of attention span when we can’t even pull away from our devices.  Your kids need to see that they have your attention free from your phone/laptop/television/etc.  The ‘urgent’ of social media cannot be allowed to replace the ‘important’ of giving focused time and attention to your children.  You’re showing how much you value them.
4. The gift of verbal affirmation – Communicate to your kids your love and give them words of praise and affection.  The world we live in has much to offer in the way of criticism, discouragement, and hateful speech.  Your children need to hear encouraging words from the lips of their father that will help to drown out the evil speech that fills this world.  God values the spoken word so much that he created the world by it (Genesis 1) and Jesus himself is called the Word of God (John 1).
5. The gift of appropriate physical affection – You may not be a ‘touchy-feely’ kind of guy.  You are still called to love them with how you touch them. Hold, hug, high-five, cuddle, or kiss your kiddos.  Dance with them.  Wrestle with them. Your physical touch is something that lets them know that their father is accessible, caring, and will always embrace them.  Appropriate physical affection from a father will often keep them from seeking out inappropriate physical affection from others.
6. The gift of song – One of the unfortunate aspects of the last generation or two is that many men sing less.  Dads, loudly sing during worship at church and with your kids before bed.  It will have quite the impact on your kids, especially as you model it in worshipping Jesus.  Even if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket, the impact goes farther.  My Grandad is one who has never been too shy to sing out, even though it is usually off-key.  But it made such an impression on me, even to this day, by helping me to see that you can be manly and still sing out.  Redefine masculinity for your kids.
7. The gift of play – Show your kids you enjoy them, and don’t just tolerate them. Playing card games, board games, video games, whatever!  Goof off with them.  Joke with them.  Let down the rugged exterior for a bit and let them see that Dad values fun.
8. The gift of a memory – Don’t just give good gifts this Christmas. Give an experience that they’ll remember. A few months ago we went on our first official family trip.  With our 2 year old and 4 year old loaded in the van we headed just a few hours away to stay in a hotel and visit a few places in a new city.  After a couple of nights where we prayed desperately for our kids to go to sleep or Jesus to return, my wife and I thought we had perhaps lost our minds.  But my 4 year old, Jude, still asks occasionally if we can “go stay in that hotel with the pool again”.  Maybe for you it is planning a family trip.  Maybe it is as simple as making some hot cocoa and walking around looking at Christmas lights. Give them gifts that will make memories, rather than ones that will just end up in a yard sale a year or two from now.
9. The gift of humility – Probably the most important thing you could do as a father is admit your own sinfulness to your kids.  You don’t inspire holiness in your children by pretending you always have it all together, have all the right answers, etc.  You will inspire holiness in your children when you show them it only comes from Jesus in the first place.  Repent to your kids.  Not if, but WHEN you sin against them, ask for their forgiveness.  Yes, it is humbling.  But it is right.  And you need to show your kids that you need Jesus, too.  THAT will gain you much more of a hearing for the Gospel and much more respect with your children in the long run.  Authenticity and humility towards your children will help them to live authentic and humble lives as well.  You may not know what it means to be the spiritual leader of your home just yet.  You may not know many bible passages to teach on or be able to articulate rich theology – but you can be the Lead Repenter of your home.  Be the first one to admit your sinfulness, and point your whole family back to Jesus.
10. The gift of patience – No doubt your kids will be in rare form this holiday.  Especially if you have young ones.  Half-blinded with joyous rage at all the bright colors and sounds and smells.  Hopped up on whatever candy you told them a fat bearded man left in a sock for them.  They will be over-stimulated and odds are they’ll be extra-sinful too.  I’ll be right there with you, fellow dads.  Take an extra deep breath.  Correct their bad behavior, sure, but let’s remember the infinite patience of God towards us.  Let’s remember how because of Jesus, God is not looking down on us in frustration any longer.  He doesn’t blow up at us.  He doesn’t discipline us out of anger, but out of love.  And may we do the same.  In doing so, we’ll be modeling the truth of Romans 2:4, that it is the Lord’s kindness that leads us to repentance.

Dads, there’s no better time to do all this than the very day we set aside each year to remember how God gave us the gift of the Gospel in Jesus Christ (John 3:16);

how he gave us the gift of being the perfect husband to his bride – the church (Ephesians 5:22-32);

how he came to meet us face-to-face in Jesus Christ (John 1:14-18);

how we now have the verbal affirmation of God who declared us “righteous” through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21);

how he took on flesh to show physical affection toward sinners (Romans 5:8);

how he, as a mighty warrior, rejoices over us with a song (Zephaniah 3:17);

how “the joy of the Lord is our strength” and “every good and perfect gift comes from above” from our fun-loving God (Nehemiah 8:10; James 1:18);

how, by his grace, we have experienced unforgettable life change (Ephesians 2:1-10; Psalm 77:11-15);

how he humbled himself to reach us (Philippians 2:5-8);

and how he has displayed incredible patience and forbearance towards us that we may come to him (2 Peter 3:9).

Merry Christmas!