“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18, NIV 1984).

Yesterday I spent an hour in the grocery store helping out a patient too ill to go himself, who would not be helped by his own children because of his past malfeasance. Today in church I met a young man whose father no longer speaks to him and whose wife has left him, carrying off his only son. My own kids are doing fine, and each demonstrated his or her love for me this Father’s Day in a special way.

All of us have biological fathers. Most of us have had wonderful fathers, others not. Some of us also are fathers, mostly good fathers, some not. I would never hold myself up as an example for anyone to follow as a father, but there is one to whom I would point:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9, ESV).

Why does God take on the description of Father, and what does that tell me about my understanding of fatherhood? I have poured through the Scripture to answer this question.

If I could get one thing straight about God’s fatherhood, it would be this:

Our Father is love (1 John 4:8), and love is this:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NIV 1984).

If this passage describes a good father, how fully does my fatherhood fit this description? I bet it’s the same for moms.

Dear Father,
Fill me with Your character for the sake of the children in this world.
Amen