To have a good spiritual father or mentor in your life is truly a gift from God.
Your response to that gift will determine much of what happens in your future.
Scripture says, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine” (1 Timothy 5:17).
Honor reveals character. To honor someone means to show approval, gratefulness, and respect. To dishonor someone means to disdain, put down, belittle, and insult. Those that honor their fathers lengthen their lives and those that dishonor their fathers shorten their lives.
This truth is found in the Fifth Commandment. “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee” (Exodus 20:12).
You not only have natural fathers, but you have spiritual fathers.
A spiritual father is that person God puts in your life to help you become all that God has called you to be.
Spiritual fathers transfer a wealth of knowledge to their sons and daughters through the spirit of wisdom. Scripture says, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20).
To have a spiritual father in your life is a gift from God. Your response to that gift will determine much of what happens in your future.
Honouring spiritual fathers in the kingdom of God is rooted in biblical principles of mentorship, stewardship, and respect for spiritual authority.
Biblical Basis of Spiritual Fatherhood
Spiritual Lineage:
The Apostle Paul described spiritual fatherhood when he wrote that believers may have many instructors, “yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel”
(1 Corinthians 4:15).
Figures like Paul (with Timothy and Titus), Elijah (with Elisha), and Moses (with Joshua) model how mature believers nurture, guide, and impart spiritual life to younger believers.
The Heart of Honor: Scripture commands honor inf those who labor in leadership (such as elders worthy of “double honor” in
1 Timothy 5:17).
Practical Ways to Honor Spiritual Fathers:
Prayer and Intercession: I Carrying the burden of their struggles through consistent prayer is a fundamental expression of care.
Practical Support and Generosity: Honoring leaders has a practical dimension—meeting needs, showing hospitality, and being generous with resources as an extension of respect.
Teachable Spirit: Demonstrating honor means listening to instruction, valuing their wisdom, and applying godly counsel rather than acting out of rebellion or pride.
Protecting Their Integrity: Upholding their reputation and avoiding public disrespect or division—recognizing that seeds of honor sown into current leadership shape how future generations will honor others.
God has purposefully placed our spiritual father in our life so we can have protection over the attacks of the enemy.
Without a spiritual father in our life we are constantly exposed to the fiery darts of the enemy, and eventually face our battles on our own.
God has placed in our lives the perfect patern of the Father, Son wine skins, with God, the father and God, the Son.
In the midst of Jesus’ busy life, teaching, preaching and performing miracles, he still made time to communicate with His Father.
Connecting to a ligitimit Fathering Grace is of paramount importance for the survival of the church in this season, especially with the attacks on God’s people from all spheres of life.
May we continue to Honour Spiritual Fathers
We have been speaking on Leadership and Governance that is representative of the Lord; when leaders are spiritually aligned and configured in their representation of the Chief Shepherd Christ Jesus, they naturally confer, radiate and exude a protective grace over their sphere of jurisdiction. Spiritual fathers are the “representative shepherds” over their spiritual families.
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.
In Biblical times, shepherds slept across the one “entrance and exit door” of the sheepfold, symbolising themselves as the door and gate through which sheep may enter or exit; there was no “back door”. This would be the first barrier of entry to be negotiated by the predator of the sheep.
Meditate on these scriptures …….
Numbers 27:16 “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, 17 who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.”
In the New Covenant, Jesus presents Himself as the Door of the sheep
John 10:7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
There is only ONE door. Jesus makes a clear distinction between His “gate keeping mandate” and those who are “enemies of the sheep” who carry a predatory spirit that causes them to steal, kill and destroy.
Present day leadership and governance, represent Jesus as the door or keepers of the gate; they must be able to impart a protective grace within their households of faith.
David is a perfect example of this type of leader (spiritual father).
As a young boy, he provided oversight to a little flock of sheep that belonged to his father Jesse. He embodied and personified the finest qualities of a gatekeeper. He killed the predators who would seek to destroy the lives of the sheep. He did not chase them away; David killed them. The lives of the sheep were of paramount importance to David. David literally “took the lamb out of the mouth of the predator”
1 Samuel 17:34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.
David demonstrated the “spirit of the shepherd, who is the elect, called and chosen by God the Father, to represent Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd. This grace is further evident and manifested when David readily and fearlessly accepts the challenge to kill Goliath.
Do not expect spiritual fathers to remain passive when the lives of those entrusted to his oversight are being compromised or at risk. We must discern a responsible shepherd/ keeper of the door or gate, from a hireling
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
The hireling carries the spirit of the mercenary, who works for his daily wages and has no regard for the life of the sheep. Spiritual fathers must heed the counsel of Peter, who called for sobriety and vigilance and a resolute resistance to the devil who is responsible for global suffering by the brethren
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
In conclusion, true spiritual fathers are not searching for a sentimental or manipulative relationship with their spiritual sons. The apostle Paul clearly declares his intention. He does not desire to be a burden to the believers in Corinth. His priority is the spiritual life and advancement of the believer, not what belongs to the believer.
2 Corinthians 12:14 Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.
The Apostle John shared the same desire
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
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