ARE YOU A REFLECTION OF YOUR FATHER?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God! And that
is what we are! The reason the world does not know
us is that it did not know Him.”
(1 John 3:1)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever seen someone and thought,
    “That person looks familiar, but I don’t know him or her”
Sometimes we recognize someone because we know their
father or mother and they have some of his or her physical
characteristics.

Some even have the same attitudes, habits, hobbies, voice, etc. as
their father or mother. When we see them, we are reminded of their
father or mother. And, when we see their father or mother, we are
reminded of them. Why? Because they are similar to each other;
when we see one of them, we remember the other one.

However, there are times when we see someone we cannot
recognize. Since we have never met their father or mother,
we have no point of reference. We cannot recognize any
similarity in them and their father or mother, because we
don’t know either of their parents.

When God gave us His gift of salvation, we became His adopted
children. As His children, He gave us the capacity to love in the
same way He does. Not only that, but He instilled in us a desire
to become more like Him (and His Son, Jesus) in every way.

We want to forgive as He forgives, treat others as kindly as He
does, encourage others in the same way He encourages us, and
have compassion for others as He does for us, just to name a few.

The more we become like Him, the less we will be recognized
by lost people. Why? Because they don’t know our Father.
Before God became our Father, they could easily recognize us
because our father was the same as theirs – Satan, the evil one.
Some may even hate you for becoming a child of God.
    If I had not done among them the works no one
    else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is,
    they have seen, and yet they have hated both me
    and my Father.
    (John 15:24)

We had the same characteristics as those ‘of the world’, so we
were easy to know. However, once we became children of our
new Father, we were no longer recognizable as children of the
world. Those who don’t know our Father, cannot recognize His
love, or any other type of His characteristics in our lives.

ACTION:
Questions to ask ourselves:
    – Who is my father?
    – Which ‘father’ is the one who causes others to think of me?
    – What characteristics of my Heavenly Father are evident in me?
    – Do the lost readily identify with me, or is it those who are saved
       who consider you as their sibling?
           Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the
           Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak
           on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in
           me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that
           I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least
           believe on the evidence of the works themselves.
           (John 14:10-11)

Do you love others as your Father does, or is your love directed
toward yourself, and only those who love you back? In a world
that has conditioned people to think of themselves first and
foremost, we know that some people will not love us back, and
some will not even acknowledge our expressions of love for them.

This creates a challenge for us, doesn’t it? We can withhold our
love for them, or we can continue to love them in the same way
our Heavenly Father loves us. God lavished His love on us, so
we can love others even if they fail to love us, or appreciate our
love for them.

That’s the example God established for His ‘offspring’
(aka adopted children). It is also the example we see in
Jesus. When we think of Jesus, we think of God, and
when we think of God, we think of Jesus. Look at
these words from Jesus:
    I and the Father are one.
    (John 10:20)

As adopted children of God, we should want others to think of Him
when they see or think of us, shouldn’t we? God knew we couldn’t
accomplish that on our own, so He sent the Holy Spirit to help us in
transforming to a likeness of Jesus (as part of His sanctification to
help us become more righteous).

If your father is the same as those ‘of the world’, they will
have a greater desire to spend time with you. However, if
your father is the Lord, then you may be excluded from
their inner circle of friends. As you can imagine, Satan
will use things like exclusion as a way of discouraging you
from living a life that reflects your Father’s characteristics.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me Your gift of
salvation. Thank You for giving me the capacity to love
others in the same way You love me. Help me to develop
more of Your characteristics in my own life, so that when
others see me, they will get a glimpse of You. Teach me to
nurture Your characteristics, attitudes, and attributes so I
can point others to Jesus. Thank You for adopting me as
Your child!”

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