For me, I’m a Dad and a husband, and I love both roles. My most considerable growth as a Christian has been because of being a husband and a father. I’ve been able to understand a lot more about God when I became both roles. I know why God does what He does, why the struggles happened, how He’s capable to love despite our disrespect and cold-shouldered nature.
Proverbs 3:12 — “For the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father, the son in whom he delights.”
God Delights in His Children
One of the biggest eye-opening things for me was the scripture above that says He delights in us. I guess my understanding of that has always been “God likes us;” “He made us,” “He thinks we’re cool.” But it’s so much deeper than that. I remember one day getting a picture this past winter from my wife of my son; he’s six years old. While playing outside in the snow, he throws a giant ball of it. There’s such joy on his face.
As I looked at that picture, I was overwhelmed with a warm feeling of happiness. All I wanted to do was show everybody “look at my son play.” That’s not cool to anybody who’s not a dad, but if you’re reading this you are a dad or husband then you know what I’m getting at.
I remember sitting down with my pastor one day talking about some of the things that I was dealing with in a religious (rather than personal) nature. My mind that said you must always be perfect, and I couldn’t get past it; it’s how I was raised. Then he quoted the scripture for me “God delights in you” and all of a sudden a light came on. He began to talk about his relationship with his four kids. The way he looks at them with such a sense of pride and Joy.
More Than A Creation, But God’s Children
I had to tell him about the picture. It’s the same thing, and I began to see God and understand how He views me the same way. He doesn’t just see us as creation, like something that He made in art class and looked at it like “wow that came out pretty good.” He sees us as His children. God delights in His children! The other day my oldest was reading to me; he’s just learning to read, and he’s getting pretty good. That same feeling of delight came over me.
Author: Isaiah
For more reading materials on how God delights in His Children and faith in Him, see below:
- God’s Role is Evident in Your Life
- God’s Path for Your Life Can Feel Strange
- What Godly Obedience Looks Like
I needed to hear this. Same struggle with performance for appreciation/love and perfectionism. It’s hard to wrap my head around how God just loves me for me. And yet, as I look at my children I may desire that they grow into disciplined adults but I just love and delight in them.
So read this today. I’ve lived in Texas for two years and it just so happened to snow today. I was excited to see my first childs reaction to her first snow. She wasn’t that entertained but I still got to take a picture of my first child playing outside in the snow for the first time today.