We recently talked with Jeff Zaugg, founder of DadAwesome, about what God’s doing in his work with dads. I appreciate Jeff’s excitement for dads. We looked at Deuteronomy 30:19-20: I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days…” Moses gave Israel two choices: life or death, blessings or curses. Obedience to God’s law brings life, disobedience brings death. This choice impacts both you and future generations. The Lord, He is your life (Deut. 30:20). The godly dad leads with wonder, purpose, and direction. #1 Lead with wonder. Do you realize how amazing it is to hold your kids’ hand? Recognize what God is doing in you and your family—while He’s doing it. #2 Lead with purpose. Your wife/kids have plenty of negative, energy-zappers at work/school all day. Don’t make your house another energy suck. Point out the good instead of the bad all the time #3 Lead with direction. The default for many dads is to passivity or to keep things “mildly under control,” as Jeff puts it. Leadership is moving from passivity to actively charting a course. Create goals for you and your family and live by them. Where are you aiming? Are you pointing your family to living more self-focused or more others-focused?

Scriptures for Spiritual Growth: We know that the moment we stop growing, we start dying. That’s true in the physical world, and it’s true spiritually as well. When God saved you, He didn’t pull you out of this world. Instead, He commanded you to grow, to become more and more like His Son every day. Spiritual maturity brings glory to God, and these Scriptures give us insight into what it looks like to develop into the men He created us to be.

What Jeff Zaugg Learned About Awesome Dads: On the outside, it looked like Jeff Zaugg had it all together as a family minister and a dad. But a deeper dive convinced him that he needed to do more—for himself and for other dads who were struggling to make meaningful connections with their kids. As the founder of DadAwesome, Jeff now gets to see God at work among fathers and gets to share his story of encouragement with others.