We all know – or had better know – what today is. It’s Father’s Day. The road to getting a national Father’s Day established was a long one. It all started in 1910 with Sonora Smart Dodd. The impetus was twofold: first, the fact that Mother’s Day already existed and she wanted a day to honor dads. Second, her dad was Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, a single father who raised six children. Obviously, she loved her dad and wanted to give him the honor he deserved.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson tried to get Father’s Day legislation passed but it failed. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge tried the same thing and had the same results. “It wasn’t until 1966 that President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Finally, in 1972, President Richard Nixon signed it into law as a permanent national holiday.”1
Father’s Day met with a lot of resistance from an unlikely source – the fathers. Rather than feeling honored, they felt that it was just a ploy of retailers to make more money under the guise of honoring dads who felt it unnecessary to be honored. Whether it was the retailers or the sentimentality of the event, the dads lost the fight, and fathers have been recognized on this day ever since.
Statistically, Mother’s Day is more popular. But the dads are gaining ground. Consider some impressive numbers predicted for this Father’s Day.
- An estimated 72 million fathers are living in the U.S. right now.
- Americans plan to spend more than $22 billion buying gifts for the dads in their lives this Father’s Day.
- 75% of American adults said they intend to celebrate Father’s Day in some way.
- Father’s Day is the fourth-largest holiday for greeting card sales, following only Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day.2
It is Biblical to honor dads. Moms, too! Exodus 20:12 says, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” In Deuteronomy 5:16, the commandment is reiterated but a promise is added. “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
Though the context of Romans 13:7 applies to government and authority figures, the 
instructions can be applied to dads as well. “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.”
So, today, let’s honor good ol’ dad. Let’s thank him for being in our lives, teaching us, even disciplining us when necessary. And let’s apply the good Biblical instruction he gives. Proverbs 1:8-9 says, “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: (9) For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.”
1https://doingdadstuff.com/fathersday-2025/
2https://financebuzz.com/fathers-day-facts?msockid=3f201dd013a062cf128908211226635b
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