The Love of a Father
My daughter got married on November 20, 2021, and my family and I have been looking forward to seeing the photographs and video footage of the wedding. This week, to our surprise, we received both a link via email from the photographer and a flash drive in the mail from the videographer. We spent the day viewing the photos and video as a family. We laughed at the various facial expressions, awkward dancing, and situations caught on camera. I almost got choked up remembering the first time I saw my daughter in her wedding dress before the ceremony. I remembered thinking about how much I loved her and how proud I was of her for the Godly young woman she had become.
Later we had dinner with my father and my sister’s family. We talked and laughed about things that happened when we were children. We told stories about things our parents said and did that made a difference in our lives. Growing up, there was never a doubt about how much my father loved me and my sister. Then, my children told stories about things that I said and ways that I disciplined them that made an impact on their lives. I made the comment that I spent a lot of time praying that God’s hand would be on them and that they would grow up and be ok despite the mistakes I made raising them. They both responded with comments: “What mistakes?” “We’re not scarred for life.” “You did a good job.” They both know that I love them unconditionally.
The events of the day got me thinking about the love of God our Father, how it compares and contrasts to the love I have for my children, and what the Bible says about God’s love for his children.
I will love my children as long as I live; God’s love is forever.
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
There is nothing that could change my love for my children; God loves us even when we don’t love Him.
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
I would do anything within my power to help my children when they need it; God sacrificed his only Son for us.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
I love both of my children very much; God loves and desires a relationship with everyone.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
I have given my children many gifts out of love; Only through God’s love comes the gift of salvation.
“But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
I believe there is nothing that can have a greater impact on the life of a child than a father’s love. A father that loves his children, spends time with them, teaches them, prays for them, and disciples them is paramount to the growth and development of the character and faith of the child. God’s love for us is greater than any other; it is eternal. God’s love and grace is what allows us to receive salvation through Jesus Christ, to grow in our relationship with God, and to live eternally with God in Heaven.
Thank you to Lydia Thrift, owner and photographer at LPT Designs Photography, https://lptdesigns.com, for the beautiful photographs and to Jake Goforth, owner and videographer/photographer at Goforth Media, http://jakegoforth.com, for the beautiful video of our daughter’s wedding.
