Good Good Father

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!  –1 John 3:1

Maybe the title reminds you of a song, maybe it doesn’t. I stumbled upon this song by Housefires 2 years ago on YouTube. It stuck with me, especially the chorus. Two weeks or so later I heard it being sung in a church I was visiting and since then, it’s been one of those songs that Lord continues to bring to my mind and it’s a truth I continue to declare over and over again.

You’re a good good Father, It’s who You are, It’s who You are, It’s who You are

And I’m loved by You, It’s who I am, It’s who I am, It’s who I am

As repetitive as it sounds, there’s something powerful about repetition.

I don’t know about you but my journey of understanding the Father’s heart for me hasn’t always been easy. What does it even mean that God is my Father? Why does that even matter? It matters because knowing and fully embracing our identity as His child changes everything. Adoption is truly the highest privilege. He could’ve stopped at saving us from the death we deserved to die, but He didn’t. Instead, He adopted us into His family.

One of the most powerful experiences related to this was back in freshman year of college where I listened to Lee Grady who has become a friend and one of my favorite speakers! He is an author and runs the Mordecai Project which you should totally check out. Anyway, he was speaking of father wounds and how the deficiencies of our earthly fathers can often affect the way we look at God as a Father. I love my father and am so blessed to have a godly man as a father. I will not be who I am today without him. Needless to say, I realized that my view of God as a Father was one who was reserved in His love and affection for me. I still struggled with the need to constantly try to please God and His approval of me was based on what I did for Him. And that if I screwed up, He would be disappointed and every time I fell short, I felt guilty and would constantly apologize to Him in order to be in His ‘good books’ again.

As I was prayed for that night, I wept. I wept because I was overwhelmed with the Father’s love for me. A love that remains, a love that never changes even if I misunderstood it, misunderstood Him. His love for me is based on who He is and not what I do. The pressure was off. I found a new sense of freedom that night and since then, He’s been building on that revelation of Him as my Father. A Father who is so ready to pour out His affection on me, who loved me enough to send His Son to die for me. And I am totally okay with that. Now I walk in freedom to serve not out of fear of punishment but out of a knowledge of His love for me. Even if I fall, He will catch me. I am not afraid to mess up anymore, there is so much grace. This grace compels me to stay close to my Father and I never want to leave.

But if I’m really honest, as much as I know that I’m His child, I don’t always live like I truly believe it. And it’s in those moments, the song gets even louder because I need to believe it. And I’m guessing you’re the same too. And so my prayer is that as you journey on with the Lord, you will continue to discover His heart for you. He is your good Father. If you do not know Him at all, then you should. He loved you so much to include you in His family, but only if you receive it.

Romans 8:15-16 – For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

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