The Freeing Love of Our Father

Day 7 — August 28, 2018

By Nikao Wallace

For the past few weeks I’ve been listening to a teaching that has majorly impacted the way I view God’s love for me.  I think we take for granted how significant the words “God loves you” are.  In the Bible, the love of God is often likened to the love that a father has for his children. So much so that when Jesus taught his disciples to pray he instructed them to begin with Our Father…” Out of all names for God mentioned in the Bible, Jesus told us to call him Father.

Think of the love of a father. He doesn’t love his child because they earned it. He doesn’t love his child because they’re a great person.  He loves his child because they are his; because they were birthed from him.  Think of a father’s provision.  He doesn’t provide for his child as payment for services rendered.  He provides because the child is his.  The child is valuable to him.  It’s an honor for a father to take care of his children, no strings attached.

Seeing God as my father has changed the way I view my role as a Christian. For so long I felt that being a good Christian meant that I did “ good Christian things.” Love my neighbor, serve others, give to the church, pray and read my bible every day…. I felt that I had to prove my love for God through my actions; that I owed God for being so good to me.

Put yourself in the shoes of a parent. How would you feel if your child thought that they had to perform a laundry list of good deeds to be worthy of your love? I imagine that would be an awful feeling.  No, being a Christian isn’t about our love for God.  It’s all about receiving Gods love for us as a child receives the love of their father.  This, in turn, frees us to then do those “good Christian things” for the right reasons.  Good works aren’t something we do for God.  They are a reaction to God’s love for us. We do good works out of the deep gratitude that is birthed in us through the goodness of our Father!

This is love: not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. John 4:10 

 

 

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