I love good questions and this is a good one. This question was posed several weeks ago by Francis Chan at Catalyst and I have not been able to get it out of my mind. I think about it all the time. The entire question is this, “If someone mentioned your name to our Heavenly Father, what would he say?”
I cannot help but think about this question from the perspective of an earthly father. We all have fathers and many of us are fathers ourselves. So what kind of things do you remember your father saying? Phrases like, “You did a great job” and “I’m very proud of you” come to mind when I did something good. And “I’m very disappointed in you” and “You could have made a better decision” were common when I did something stupid. If you’re like me, you probably remember some that were a little more painful and maybe some that you said to your own kids that you regret.
What I have noticed about most of the comments from my father (and most I have made myself) is that they are responses to my actions. When my son does good, my response is praise. When my son makes poor decisions, my responses are less encouraging. Now I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, my kids should know when I am proud of them and they should know when their behavior is disappointing. I think it’s part of growing up. I just wonder what comes to my boys’ minds when they wonder what I think of them.
Francis Chan says that if your name was mentioned to your Heavenly Father, His response would be, “Man I really, really love that guy!” When I heard that the first time, I thought, “Boy I hope that’s true!” There are lots and lots of things I know I have done that have disappointed my Heavenly Father and maybe some things that He would be proud of, but the cool thing is that our Heavenly Father’s response to us has less to do with what we do and more to do with who He is. It’s just like us as self-centered humans to think that God’s view of us depends on us, but the truth is that God’s view of us depends on God.
Think about this. Knowing how you treat God, knowing how you treat the people who love you, knowing the things you think about, and knowing all the things you put in front of your relationship with God, would you die for you? Well, God knew……..and He did! So the next time you think about your Heavenly Father, remember, “He really, really loves (insert name here)!”
I cannot help but think about this question from the perspective of an earthly father. We all have fathers and many of us are fathers ourselves. So what kind of things do you remember your father saying? Phrases like, “You did a great job” and “I’m very proud of you” come to mind when I did something good. And “I’m very disappointed in you” and “You could have made a better decision” were common when I did something stupid. If you’re like me, you probably remember some that were a little more painful and maybe some that you said to your own kids that you regret.
What I have noticed about most of the comments from my father (and most I have made myself) is that they are responses to my actions. When my son does good, my response is praise. When my son makes poor decisions, my responses are less encouraging. Now I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, my kids should know when I am proud of them and they should know when their behavior is disappointing. I think it’s part of growing up. I just wonder what comes to my boys’ minds when they wonder what I think of them.
Francis Chan says that if your name was mentioned to your Heavenly Father, His response would be, “Man I really, really love that guy!” When I heard that the first time, I thought, “Boy I hope that’s true!” There are lots and lots of things I know I have done that have disappointed my Heavenly Father and maybe some things that He would be proud of, but the cool thing is that our Heavenly Father’s response to us has less to do with what we do and more to do with who He is. It’s just like us as self-centered humans to think that God’s view of us depends on us, but the truth is that God’s view of us depends on God.
Think about this. Knowing how you treat God, knowing how you treat the people who love you, knowing the things you think about, and knowing all the things you put in front of your relationship with God, would you die for you? Well, God knew……..and He did! So the next time you think about your Heavenly Father, remember, “He really, really loves (insert name here)!”
