When I think about a father's role in a child's life, I am deeply reminded of my faith. I see how a child looks to his father and mimicks. I can remember pretending to be like my dad growing up, occasionally saying things like he did and doing particular things in the same manner. When I think about my faith in Christ, I am reminded of Jesus crying "Abba, father!" throughout scripture. "Abba" is a hebrew aramaic term that describes a close and intimate relationship with a father. By initimate, of course, I mean a relationship that is personal and essential that is within the deepest nature personal of love. Eros love is an erotic type of initimate love that I am not speaking of. I mean the type of love by C.S. Lewis' description called 'caritas' or agape love. This is the type of unconditional love that only comes from God.
When Jesus cried "Abba" he saw God the father the same way a child see's his father. The mimicked behavior, the language, and the actions, are ways in which we followed our dads and can be analoguous to Jesus and His father, God. As Christians, we follow in the footsteps of our heavenly father. When we think of loving others, we must think first of how God loves us unconditionally. God does not love us because of what we've done, but He loves us because we are in the likeness of His son Christ! Imagine if God only loved us because of what we do. That would be like a parent saying to a kid, "Child, I only love you when you don't do bad things." What kind of parent would that be? God loves us because He is our father, and when He calls us to salvation, we become in the likeness of His true son, Jesus.
Take joy in salvation because God, abba father, loves us even in times that we fail, stumble, and sin. May the peace of God and His grace & mercy be with you.
Gal. 4:6
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
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