The Love of the Father

For a lot of people Father's Day is not one of celebration - I am overjoyed to say the opposite. Father's Day is a day I get to celebrate the incredible gift my Heavenly Father gave me, which is the greatest earthly father I could ever ask for.

For those of you who aren't as excited about this particular day, or maybe dread it all together, I have incredible news for you. Our Heavenly Father loves you. He created you and He desires you.

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A friend recently shared with me the following sermon from pastor Louie Giglio, and I urge you to watch it. However, I will unpack it to the best of my ability:

(The following thoughts are summarized/paraphrased from the video below)

*The first thing we need to get straight before we go any further: THERE IS A FATHER ISSUE IN THIS COUNTRY.

In Genesis after each day of creation, God would look at what He had made and say that it was good. God also designed the family, so we can know and trust that anything from His design is (you guessed it) GOOD. Proverbs 22: 6 tells us to "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."

Fathers should bring:

- stability

- support

- love

- safety

- proper instruction

When they don't it can lead to brokenness, anxiety and depression.

Louie reads from Romans 8 and explains that our primary relationship with God is that of a father and child (v.15-17). Truly being set free is realizing and believing that we are a son or daughter of a perfect Father. But we also have to be aware that there is an enemy who has a plan for us, a plan to distort earthly fatherhood so that we have a skewed view of our Heavenly Father.

The good news is that the gospel tells us that God sent His son in order to bring dead people to life. That's you and that's me.

In the video above Louie says "I am worth Jesus to my Father" (39:09). God loves us so much He gave up His own Son just to be able to be with us!

We do not have to do anything (and will never be able to) to earn God's love. He already loves us. From the start.

God is a perfect Father to His children. But, unfortunately, there are a lot of fathers who are absent, abusive, judgemental, passive, selfish, and so much more. Thankfully our God can take bad things and turn them into something good.

This is why marriages matter. This is why family dynamic matters. This is why raising your children to know and love God matters. This is why being a good dad matters.

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As I write this I think of my own sweet dad. My father is

- always present

- loving unconditionally

- proud of me

- protective

- encouraging

- supportive

- always providing for me

- and willing to sacrifice everything for my good

He models his life after God in order to be a good dad to me and my siblings. Too often I hear "I don't have a dad", "I don't like my dad", "my dad is mean to me", or "I never see my dad." Let me be the first to say I am so sorry. The love of a father is vital and is lacking in families in our world.

So this is a thank you to my daddy and all he's done for me in my 21 years, and a thank you for every day going forward because I know he is a man I can always count on.

Dad,

Thank you. For teaching me most of what I know, for always fixing my car, for being patient with me as I continue to learn and grow, for checking my oil every time I come home, for never letting me leave the house without a tight hug. I love you!

Happy Fathers Day :)