During my first week in CGA, we focused on learning about God’s love for us as a Father. I’ve been a Christian for 8 years and a full-time missionary for most of that time. Honestly, this concept is so basic, I was like “I get it.” I believe I do in many ways, but there are always more layers. I’d like to share with you one experience my class had that week.
Have you ever felt like you had to do enough, put on a mask, or clean up your mess before God would really love you? You know that the Bible says He loves you, and you’ve felt His love in your heart, but sometimes you wonder if His love has limits or conditions. You may not even realize you do this. I certainly have felt this way before. Especially within American society which has such a high emphasis on success as a standard for how we are viewed, it’s so easy to think that the “better” we are the more God will love us.
What hit me the most in our teachings that week was this:
“Work, ministry, worship… these are some of the books, but ‘sonship’ is the bookshelf. It’s really all about relationship with the Father, and everything else follows. It’s not information that we lack, it’s experience of the Father’s love.”
Our instructors were saying that we get to do so many fulfilling and important things as we go through life with God, but our Christian walk isn’t about what we are doing, it’s about being with God. Sonship and daughterhood, being loved by Him because we are His sons and daughters…. it’s really all about this! From that place of being loved by Him we get to pour out love to others. Being loved by God, loving him back, and loving others is the entire point of our lives. It’s not about how much we can do for God.
Matthew 37:
“Then John baptized Jesus. And as Jesus rose up out of the water, the heavenly realm opened up over him and he saw the Holy Spirit descend out of the heavens and rest upon him in the form of a dove. Then suddenly the voice of the Father shouted from the sky, saying, ‘This is the Son I love, and my greatest delight is in him.’”
At this point in Jesus’ life, he had not stepped into full-time ministry yet. The Bible doesn’t list certain accomplishments Jesus had that made the Father love Him. God the Father delighted in Jesus because of their relationship, because He was God’s son, not because of any miracle or teaching or ministry that Jesus had done yet. And Jesus walked out His entire life from this place of sonship. Jesus completely trusted the Father in every situation, because He had experienced the Father’s love for Him. He trusted the Father, even when He was silent, even while going through the most excruciating moments of His life while He was nailed to the cross. Even still, Jesus knew His Father loved Him.
I’d like to challenge you to do this exercise. Look in a mirror for 30 minutes. Ask yourself these questions:
- How do I see myself?
- How do I see the Father?
- How do I think the Father sees me?
When I did this exercise, I realized that the way I saw myself and the way I thought the Father saw me were completely opposite! After doing this reflection, take some time to reflect on scripture that reveals God’s thoughts towards us. Here is a helpful list from a blog that I like. Try to pick one that resonates with you and internalize it. The important part is to let your mind be renewed with the truth about how the Father sees you. I hope this exercise will be as impactful for you as it was for me!
Until next time,
Elaine
