I strive to be a good father, I really do. But all the demons come out of the woodwork to point out my shortcomings and failings.
My goal, then, is to look to our ideal Heavenly Father, God Almighty, for inspiration and guidance.
God is all loving, but that doesn’t mean soft. We’ve mixed up the two concepts. Love, in fact, can sometimes feel harsh and rigid.
My best example is setting rules for children. There has to be some unbending guidance for your kids, perhaps around lying. Or how we treat each other. Even going to bed on time.
As they get older, you exchange simple rules for more nuanced ones. You expand the scope to include decisions that have REAL impact, like driving a car or using drugs.
Our God does the same thing. The Ten Commandments are just as important as they ever were, but Jesus gave us a lot more context. In Leviticus we were given a whole bunch of things to stay away from, without so much explanation, until Jesus gave us His Church.
A loving father has to clearly tell his children not to cross the street by themselves, because the impact is life or death. Learning will come over time.
We’d like to think that we’ve matured as a human race, so we can maybe understand some deeper reasoning behind God’s rules. Like treating everyone and everything with love, no matter how you feel about them.
The question I’m pondering today: Am I spiritually any more mature than a three year old? Because sometimes it feels like I’m still struggling to get my heart and soul aligned with even the most basic guidance.