A Good, Good Father

Understanding our Heavenly Father through the lens of a good father.

There are so many names for God, but the one I believe God wants us to be most familiar with is the name of Abba (father/daddy). Now some of us might not have an understanding of a good father – either because he was non-existent in your life or horrible to your family. In my case, it was more of the former. But I think we all can figure out the difference between a good father and a bad one. Jesus points out this truth when He asks in Matthew 7:9-11:

Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

The point is that deep down we all know what a good father looks like. Even if you never had one you knew enough to see one and wish you had one like that. While I haven’t had personal experience of a “good father” I strive to see God through that lens.

There are many reasons why seeing God through this viewpoint is necessary, but I think the most important one is being able to discern the heart of God among all the voices, dogma and confusion of the world. Some examples of this:

A good father loves his kids regardless of their behavior. In today’s world we confuse love with approval of our behavior. But approval and unconditional love is not the same. You can totally love someone without approving of all of their behavior – especially if you know that behavior is hurtful to the individual and/or others. It is really important to understand this distinction. God loves all of us. He doesn’t approve of our sinful ways.

A good father does not use evil to teach his children a lesson. Religion would have us to believe that God sends sickness, kills relatives and friends and sends destruction our way to make us better. There’s no good parent alive that is hoping their kid gets cancer so they can learn some humility. Why in the world would we believe this of God? The Bible says that He uses – keyword here – all things to work together for our good (Romans 8:28). Of course there are lessons to learn and growth to be gained in EVERY situation. It is for those lessons, strength and testimony that we thank God. Because He’s able to take the worse situations and pull some good from it.

A good father’s first inclination is to welcome the prodigal with open arms. In the story of the Prodigal Son, Jesus gives us a clear example of a forgiving and gracious father – one that is looking for us daily and running toward us as soon as He sees us on the horizon. He never asked his son what he did. Never demanded groveling. Didn’t guilt him with condescending words. First Peter 4:8 says that “love covers a multitude of sins” and our Heavenly Father is quick to do so.

Seeing God as a good father helps us cut through the error of religion and the distortion of the world. We can know the heart of our Heavenly Father when we consider the heart of a good, loving father on earth. Just remember that God is so much more! So much better than the best father we can imagine! He’s a good, good Father!