A Father's Love

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As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear (respect) him. (Psalm 103:13)

We have a father who loves us. No matter what our experience here on earth have been, the Lord, God, our Father in heaven is a kind and loving Father. We can think of Him in this way and not as we may think of our own father’s shortcomings. If we were blessed with loving earthly parents, God is even better.

We can only define “father” according to our own experiences. When those experiences are with an unkind, cruel, distant father/parent, or no father at all, it can be difficult to relate to God as loving and concerned for our well-being. Hearing God referred to as Lord and King may also conjure up an authoritarian figure. But when we look in the Bible we can see God’s great love for us through Christ’s words and through all the inspired words in both testaments.

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  (John 14:10)

When we create something good, it has value. We might even say we love it. We want to protect it because we know it intimately, its strengths and weaknesses. We know what the best use of it would be and how best to handle it. We know how to pack it for mailing or as a gift. We want people to love it as much as we do. And if it were human, we would want it to love us as much as we love it.

God, our Father is the same. He created us. He knows everything about us. He knows our strengths and weaknesses and how we should be handled. He knows who we need in our lives and He know what will make us even stronger so that we can deal with this life. And He wants us to love Him just as He loves us.

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

God, our Father never leaves us, and He never stops loving us no matter what we do. If we turn our backs on Him, He is still there waiting for us to come back to Him. When life causes us to stumble or hurt, He is there to pick up our pieces and put them together again. He is constantly trying to bring us into a close relationship with Him.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to comes, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38,39)

It is not the Father that has caused all the discord among churches or church members.  It is not the Father who has caused all the evil in this world. The powers of darkness that think they rule over the earth, who try to draw God’s creations away from Him, are working in every possible way to turn us from our true path. They lie to us about God’s love.

God has always wanted sinful man to be able to have that loving, beautiful relationship with Him that we had in the beginning. He loves us so much that He made the ultimate sacrifice. He sent His son to suffer great physical and mental torture and pain and ultimately to die so that we could be return to this right relationship. All we need to do is accept that He is our God and Father and that His son died in our place.  All we need is to ask for His forgiveness and His love will envelop us. He is waiting, as a loving Father would, for us to come back.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

We don’t have to be anything the world deems as special. We are special to God because He made us. To return to Him, we don’t have to be good enough or better in any way than we are right now. We only need to accept His gift and His love. We have a loving Father.

If we have already accepted this wonderful love from God, then taking time to praise and worship Him cannot be ignored. We have a loving Father. We can show our gratitude in our lives, in our songs, in our hearts, and in our speech.

 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, how can we praise and thank you enough for your great love? Send your Holy Spirit to teach us about your love and kindness. Speak to our hearts through your word. Help us to be loving parents and loving people, showing who you are in all that we do. The love that We do not have the ability to comprehend how much you love us even when we were sinners. And even now, if we are not following You, we know you love us more than anyone ever has. Help those who don’t know You to accept the gift of your Son and help those of us who do know you not to be complacent about your magnificent love. Amen.  

Note: Using the term ‘Father’ does not mean we must think of God as male or female but only as our creator parent who loves His children. Fathers were considered the ultimate authority when the Lord’s Prayer was written so it stands to reason that the words for ‘father’ would be used when praying to the one who loves and has authority over all.