YOUTH MOVEMENT
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By ZEKE McPherson |
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“ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from
God ’ s love . Neither death nor life , neither angels nor demons , neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from
God ’ s love ” ( Romans 8:38 ,
NLT ).
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RAISING |
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toddlers is fun . I never knew what I was getting into , though . Before my babies were walkers and talkers , I was warned many times about how they will begin asking “ why ” or how they will start saying “ mine !” Well , both of those modes of life are in full swing at my house on the daily . One of my daughters is two , the other is three , and both girls are convinced that they can own toys , hoard toys , and control how their toys are played with . So , inevitably , fusses break out , and sometimes , Daddy has to come and make peace , often resulting in tears from all parties .
My oldest – again , she ’ s three – has started to understand and deeply feel all of these run-ins . There are moments when she truly feels sorry for hurting or being mean to her sister . There are also moments when she feels rationally justified for protecting her toys from her twoyear-old sister ’ s grubby hands . Recently , though , she has asked me this a couple of times : immediately after she has gotten in trouble for being mean to Sissy , she will ask , “ Dad ... do you like me ?”
Suddenly , I am overcome with guilt for ever having spoken harshly to her , but at the same time , I am happy that at least she understands she did something wrong . So then , I look into her beautiful , big blue eyes , and my heart melts ( part of me thinks she may know what she ’ s doing here ). So then , I cannot stop myself , and I jump headfirst into complimenting , hugging and kissing , and being sweet to my three-year-old who just questioned my love . Ok , so she is not truly questioning my love , but because of the guilt she feels from doing her sister wrong , she feels that maybe , in some small way , her daddy likes her a little less than he did before .
I don ’ t love her any less . But she feels that way , and that feeling is real ! Maybe this is a silly example , but I think many of us live that way with God , the Father . Even though we believe in grace and complete forgiveness , we also struggle to view ourselves as truly loved and held close by the Father . In fact , because of our sinful nature , when we have a mess-up or a blunder , we too , probably somewhere deep inside , think something like this :
Do you like me God ? I mean , I know You forgave me , and You put up with me , but I ’ ve really disappointed You over and over again ! So even if You forgive me , You probably , even if in a small way , like me a little less than before all of this junk ...
I want to say to you the same thing that I said to my child , and it is infinitely more accurate of God than it is of me . He does like you . He loves you . You are the delight of His heart . He cares so much more about who you are and who you are becoming than He does about what you have done . Our Abba Father wants to jump headfirst into hugging , complimenting , and being sweet to you in the way that only a supernatural , all-loving God can . Don ’ t assume what my three-yearold does about me : that your Father loves you based on the whim of your actions . His love is deep and steadfast . And He likes you . CMA
23⎪July 2021⎪www . cmausa . org