First, he was actively being a father, that is he was home and present with his boys.

About 25% of children in America grow up in fatherless homes. 85% of young people who end up incarcerated have no father present. Over 70% of dropouts also have no dad in the home and an astonishing 90% of homeless children are also fatherless. Even if you don’t think you are doing a good job of being a father, if you are home and available you are making a difference.

Secondly, the prodigal’s father was willing to let him make a dumb decision.

It seems from the account that his son was not a child. You wouldn’t turn a child loose into the world but a young man, yes. Every parent eventually has to let their children leave home. Had the father wielded absolute control over his son, the invaluable experience of finding himself in the slop with the hogs would never have happened.

Was it risky for the father to let him go? Certainly. Outcomes are never guaranteed. But the son who returned to his father was not the one who had left. He had a newfound appreciation for what he had at home that he would never have had if the father had demanded to control his behavior.

Thirdly, the father valued the spiritual over the material. He did not refuse the boy the material wealth he demanded. He did not ask about it when his son returned. Instead, he celebrated that his son who had been dead had begun to live and that the boy that was lost had been found.

There are other qualities displayed in this brief parable. See what others you can find as you consider it for yourself.