Tips for Fathers on Loving Their Daughters

Father’s Day has come and gone, but not without much celebration and affirmation. My Facebook feed brimmed over with pictures of dads coupled with words of gratitude from sons and daughters of all ages.

I have an extraordinary dad. He loves me unconditionally, supports me in all things and has loved me through good and bad. In fact, I can say with all honesty that I have never doubted my dad’s love for me. Now there have been times when we didn’t see eye-to-eye. Times when I didn’t like something he did, and times when he certainly didn’t like what I chose to do.

For example, there may have been a time when I failed to mention to my dad that I planned to travel 12 hours with my roommate during Spring Break my senior year of college to see a young man that I had become friends with the summer before. Perhaps I may have come home a bit past curfew and found my dad sitting in his recliner waiting for my arrival home a time or two. And there may have even been a time when I was about six years old that I put a piece of candy in my pocket at a local store without paying.

That’s right, I was not the perfect daughter by a long shot, nor was my dad the perfect dad. But even in the difficult times, one of the things that I knew to be steadfast was my daddy’s love for me. That was never a question.

I want to share a few tips on loving your daughters with all you dads out there. These are pretty straight forward, but a reminder never hurts. We’ll call it a Game Plan for Dads.

A Dad should teach his daughter to …

Be For Real

• Teach her to be herself, the person God created her to be and no one else!
• Psalm 139:13-16

Be Fearless

• Dads have the power to inspire their daughters to do things they never thought they could.
• Teach her to fear God and not man and to trust Him to do extraordinary things in her life.
• Psalm 118:6

Be Free

• Dads can instill unconditional love in their daughters so they can walk confidently with their masks off in freedom, secure in who they are.
• Always be her biggest fan!
• 1 John 4:18

Other tools and tips for the trade:

• Be there! Be at home, family vacations, dinner. Always be in the moment (not on the cell phone, laptop or with your nose in the TV). Be present.

• Tell her you’re proud of her – not her performance, but who she is!

• Tell her you love her – all the time!

• Love her mother well. Even if you and her mother aren’t together, don’t speak unkindly about her in front of your daughter.

• Take her on dates and treat her like a queen so she’ll have high expectations on how she should be treated when she dates.

• Respect her.

• Keep the lines of communication open so she always feels comfortable talking with you. Take time to talk and listen to your daughter.

• Be understanding of her emotions. (This will be difficult sometimes, I know!!)

• Find something both of you are interested in and do it together.

Remember that you will never be a perfect Dad, but you are the perfect Dad for your daughter. I know my dad is for me!