A FATHERS LOVE Often I go into my daughter's bedroom and sit on the edge of her bed and watch her sleep. I brush the hair back out of her face and I wonder. I wonder if she really knows how much I love her. I wonder if she realizes the lengths I would go to protect her, the distances I would travel to get her the things she needs. I wonder if she knows how happy it makes me to fulfill every desire of her heart. I question if there is anything more that I could have done that day to show her how I feel. Love isn't out to see what it can get for itself; true love seeks out and finds ways to give of itself to the object of its affections. Golf, football, Jesus, spouse, children, pets, work... It doesn't take long to find out the true object of a person's affections. It's what they talk about, it's what they occupy their time doing, it's what they spend their money on. You see love is not a feeling. Love is an action. Love is not goose bumps when your girlfriend walks into the room. Love is not here today and gone tomorrow. Love is a decision, it is a course of action, and it is a way of life.
Let us read a couple of scriptures and I'll show you what I mean. First read 1 Corinthians 13: 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5 Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not become angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. 6 Love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. 7 Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always continues strong. 8 Love never ends. Second I want you to read 1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
I want you to notice the last three words of that last scripture. It DOES NOT say that God loves it says GOD IS LOVE. He doesn't just do the things that 1 Corinthians 13 talks about. He is all of the things that 1 Corinthians 13 talks about. Let me rewrite the first scripture for you and substitute God in place of the word love. You might just be surprised to see what happens. 1 Corinthians 13:4 God is patient and kind. God is not jealous, God does not brag, and God is not proud. 5 God is not rude, is not selfish, and does not become angry easily. God does not remember wrongs done against Him. 6 God is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. 7 God patiently accepts all things. God always trusts, always hopes, and always continues strong. 8 God never ends. You see that the image of the big angry God sitting on a throne ready to thump you in the head when you make a mistake disappears.
Don't get down on yourself the next time you've messed up and done something wrong. Remember that God loves you, and that He is on your side. God is your heavenly father, just as I'm father to my daughter. There isn't anything that she can do to make me stop loving her, and I'm just a limited mortal man. Imagine how much more a limitless God can love you if you let Him.
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