The Love of a Father

1 John 3:1, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

There may be many traits we carry with us from our fathers, but a deep, genuine, gracious love for those in our life may be the most important. These should be among the attributes we strive to demonstrate to the world, especially our family. As a father, I have to decide to demonstrate “lavished love” in ways that develop maturity and faithfulness. That can be a challenge at times.

Paul says in Ephesians 6:1-4, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother...”— which is the first commandment with a promise—"...so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy a long life on the earth. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

From the beginning, God was setting an example of a good father loving His children. He is patient and kind (Romans 2:4), He models meekness (Matthew 11:29-30), and doesn’t seek to shame people without cause (Psalm 69:6). He is a father who doesn't seek His own will (Philippians 2:5-8). And as we get to know Him more, we find He isn’t easily angered (Psalm 103:8) and grieved when we choose wrong (Hosiah 11:9). He lavishes His love on those who repent and come to Him (Luke 15:10), because He is our heavenly father who always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

Do you have a strong relationship with your children? The way we first think about God has a lot to do with how we experienced “father.” It's sad to see kids rebel against their parents. As a father, I can't think of a worse feeling than to feel distant from my children. Yet God has had to deal with that from the very beginning, which makes the passage in 1 John 3 even more shocking.

Throughout Jesus' ministry, those He came to save rejected, rebelled, and showed Him evil after He showed them good. More than enduring it, He anticipated it. Isaiah 53:3-5, "He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem. Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds, we are healed."

Time and again He warned his followers that this is how the people would treat Him: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Many men struggle in their role as dads because their own fathers were either absent—physically or emotionally—or were poor examples. But regardless of what a person experienced in the past, the best thing any parent can do is imitate God the Father. For dads, what image of the Lord are you portraying?