The Father Factor
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8
The Father Factor commands our person. Every man has to make the Father Factor personal. What does that mean? It means you have to accept the acceptance issue. That’s how you make the Father Factor personal in your life. You will be fathered by your Creator or your culture. You will seek acceptance and approval somewhere as a man and that journey toward acceptance and validation can be a healthy or destructive. The application of personalizing the Father Factor is this. Stop chasing the blessing of men and culture and start living in the blessing of a Father that loves you unconditionally.
The absence or the presence of a father forms people. The expectations or the lack of acceptance of a father forms people. We don’t need Christianity or the Bible to show us the destructiveness of an absent father or the expectations or acceptance of a present father. Our culture is filled with these kinds of models. Our lives have been formed by imperfect models of our fathers one way or another. There’s the performance model that says, “I’m a father, I’m the authority and if you do what I say then I’ll accept you.” That’s one model. It’s not the God model. There’s the acceptance model in contrast to the performance model and the acceptance model says, “I accept you; affirm you and when you feel that acceptance from me as a father, then you will soften up under my authority and accountability.” That’s the God model.
The truest thing about you is not what you think about you, but what God thinks about you. He accepts you and respects you sins and all. No performance needed, unconditional love.
Father, your perfect unconditional love for me is awesome!