My Fathers Love

 And we know and believe the love which God has in us.  God is love, and he who is remaining in love is remaining in God, and God is remaining in him. 

First Epistle of John 4: 16, Concordant New Testament 

This morning is Fathers day.  People around the nation will be taking time off to remember the men who lead and support their families.  For good reason.  There is plenty of research out there that states that a concrete family unit with both a father and mother present leads to a strong family unit.  My own experience is one of a broken family, as my parents were divorced while I was still young.  Not allowing this to define me, I was blessed through the years with the friendship of those who had solid family units.  This is where I learned the importance of a strong family.  The men in my group of friends these days also have grown strong families.  A few of them have survived over fifty years of marriage.  In a culture where marriage is seen more and more as being a throw away institution based on our whims of the day, this is indeed an impressive accomplishment.  But I think that many would agree that one cannot have a strong marriage without love.  Not only that, one cannot have a strong family without love for one another.  It is love which binds and holds us together.  It is the love my mother displayed for me that kept me on an even keel...most of the time.  Despite having left our family, I always knew that my father loved me in his own way.  In His mind, love was not something that men showed openly.  The difference here is that he was my dad, not my Father.  There's no question that the actions of my earthly father influenced my relationship with my heavenly Father as well.  Growing up, I sometimes lived in fear that God would abandon me as my own father had.  It is hard to understand the love and forgiveness of the Father when compared to the imperfectness of my human father.  But through the influence of my mother and Christian friends, I came to see God for who He truly is.  It is a God which a lot of people rarely see.  

Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God!  And we are!  Therefore the world does not know us, for it did not know Him. 

First Epistle of John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament 

Growing up, my perception of the love of God was tied to how well I did in life.  If I went to church every Sunday and lived a life of good behavior, I had a chance to experience His love.  However, if I did not behave well or decided not to go to church, I was led to believe that the Lord would not look too lovingly upon me.  I cannot recall just how many times I would walk into church on Sunday and sharing with my Christian friends that I was going through a rough time and have them ask me, "What is God punishing you for, what did you do?"  Unfortunately, I came to learn that this is part of the paradigm of todays mainstream church.  That God is best suited to seek out our trespasses.  But we must realize that it is the love of the Father by which our sins were put to death {Paul to the Romans 6:11, Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Through Christ Jesus, the love of the Father is shown to us.  God loved me enough to erase the old nature which I has been born with.  The Fathers love declares me His child, not a sinner!  It has never been the Fathers intent to watch over us like an overseer.  This may be true of some earthly fathers, but no my Father.  In my Fathers eyes, I am perfect in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  In my Fathers eyes, my sins no longer define me {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  This is the love of my Father. 

~Scott~