This week I received the report card from school for my six year old son. Like many fathers, I read it with a mixture of anticipation, anxiety, and emotion. Has he done well academically? In what areas has he grown in character and resilience? Where does he need more support? Where is he ahead and where behind?
While there is a noble desire and deep pride in seeing our children flourish, I suspect there is often an underlying fear behind these questions. A fear that our children might miss out on what life has to offer. A fear that they may not be good enough, accepted, or truly belong. A fear that we are somehow failing to give them the very best.
Yet the irony is that, despite all the stress and effort we put ourselves through to “improve” our children, their value to us does not come from their achievements. They are precious simply because they are our children. We willingly pour out patience, sacrifice, energy, and love for them.
When I ponder the noblest aspects of fatherhood in this way, I get a glimpse of God’s love for his children – a love that far exceeds what the very best fathers on earth can offer.
As a dad, I delight in my child when he is thankful for my generosity, when he recognises the love he has at home, when he takes on some of my values, and when he trusts me wholeheartedly. I can forgive him time and time again when he messes up. No amount of angst lasts for too long. He can simply be because he belongs in my family.
our heavenly Father delights in us, his adopted children
This makes me think how much our heavenly Father delights in us, his adopted children. We don’t have to achieve anything or be better than anyone else. We belong to him because of his generosity and never-ending love. Jesus has shown us this clearly in his life, death and resurrection. God’s Spirit keeps telling us this today as he speaks into our hearts. No matter how wretched I am, God’s love is far greater. May I delight all the more in my heavenly Father and trust in him wholeheartedly with childlike joy until the end of days.
Being a dad compels me to think about the balances of daily life in a new way. Whether to intervene or let my child’s foolish decisions take their course. Whether to teach and command or allow him to develop his own convictions in his own time. Whether to encourage freedom and fun or demand discipline and instill an understanding that life is serious and difficult.
At the end of the day, we must entrust our children to our heavenly Father. We can find joy and comfort knowing that he loves our children far more than we do. The best thing we can do is point our children to God and ask that he will use us to model and guide them. To see how dependable and worthy he is through all of life’s twists and turns.
Happy Father’s Day! May our children flourish most in those things that command eternal value.
