Dear Editor,
Father’s Day is fast approaching. For many, it is a day of love, laughter, and fellowship. It can be a long, difficult day filled with sorrow, dread, and grief for others. Is it possible for everyone to honor their father on this and other days? I believe it is if we follow the scriptures.
The instructions in Deuteronomy 5:16 are to “Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you . . .” The promised blessing of honoring our earthly fathers is given in Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
Honoring fathers includes fathers of all kinds. The command to honor fathers is neither optional or conditional, and includes all kinds of fathers. To do this, we must live a life devoted to honoring our Heavenly Father. This begins by fearing God. We are only able to love others because of God’s sacrificial love for us, through His son, Jesus Christ. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).
God is righteous and sovereign leading some to see Him as an angry judge, a mean dictator, a scrooge, or punishment czar, eagerly waiting to zap us each time we miss the mark. The truth is there are consequences for our actions or lack thereof. It is no fun when they catch up with us and often cost us something too.
Did you have a wonderful, loving, compassionate, and devoted father? Or was he distant, cold, and neglectful? Perhaps he was an addict or abused you? Was he absent or did he abandon you? Your Heavenly Father is God. He is Love. He is Holy. He loves in a way that is beyond the abilities of human fathers.
God loves you and He is the Father you have been looking for all your life.
Sincerely, Debra Hall
