An absentee dad is a disaster

A good father guides and directs the family. Such a role is not merely the result of an accident, a custom, or tradition, but it is advocated in the Bible. Many studies have indicated that where the father is respected as the leader, the family is less prone to emotional difficulties than when the father’s authority is missing.

Leadership in this sense, however, doesn’t imply the dominating, dictatorial, unquestionable authority with which some men tend to rule their families. Family leadership concerns both husband and wife. It is not one-sided. It doesn’t mean that the husband always commands and the wife submits. In a mutually supportive relationship, the husband exercises ‘soft’ leadership.