Our Forever Father

Being an earthly father is a tough job and sometimes gets a bad rap. We are quick to criticize our dads and forget that they were never meant to be the true example of fatherhood. All of our life experiences were designed to point us to our forever Father.

In the art studio is a small piece of calligraphy that stands as a personal reminder. It is a photo copy of a bible verse penned by a calligrapher that hung on the walls of my grandparent’s home during the 1940’s. The paper is yellowed and the ink faded reflecting both the age and the value of its message.

Depending on whom you ask, my grandfather was a great man of God, of strong faith, sacrificial, who took his family to Africa on a missionary journey., or a few would say he was a strict, gender-biased “machista” whose rules predicated rebellion rather than compassion. Like every person on the planet, he was not perfect as a father, husband or follower of Christ. But he gave a good go of it, and in spite of his humanity, he left a pretty awesome legacy of faith.

Every year in June we are either given an opportunity to be grateful for the positive life influence our fathers had or experience again the sad reminder of hurt, neglect and pain we went through under their leadership. But there is more to this story that needs to be considered.

God never intended our fathers to be perfect. In fact, through the good, the bad and even the hurt, God’s intention is for us to find parental perfection in Him alone. The divine intention for all our parental experiences is to point us to God. This allows us to express gratitude for the beautiful things we learned as well as appreciation for God’s perfection as a father who overflows the gaps with His everlasting love and wisdom. God is our forever father and the One our earthly fathers can never attain to.

John 15:9 says “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.” KJV

What would happen if instead of looking first at our Dads and then looking back at God, we looked at God first? If we could see God’s mercy, faithfulness, compassion and the resurrection we have experienced spiritually with God as our Father, it would be much easier to give grace to our earthly parents.

Let’s remember our earthly fathers on this special day in June, but let’s remember our forever Father, every day.

CRISTA Senior Living offers Independent and Assisted Living in Shoreline and Silverdale.  The Shoreline campus also offers Skilled Nursing, Memory Care and Rehabilitation. We can help you prepare for transitions. Email or call us today 206-546-7565.