God: Our Perfect Father
No one can deny that fathers or father figures play significant roles in people’s lives, but no one plays a bigger role than God the father. God offers the perfect picture of a father not only because he created us but also because he redeemed us.
Out of his perfect love, God has accepted all who have come to him in faith, offering them a way out of sin and its penalty of death. Even when we sin against God, he never leaves us or forsakes us; instead, he keeps us connected to him and continues loving us despite what we do.
God wants to be glorified so that all can come to know him, and while we can never repay what he has done to redeem us, we can love and serve him and tell others of his love and forgiveness. We can give God the glory in all we do, and we can reveal our connection to his amazing love and redemption by wearing faith-based clothing. This post explains how God interacts with his people as a loving father and what we can do to grow under his love and protection.
What the Perfect Father Does for Us
God our father provided the perfect blueprint for fatherhood. His love endures despite our downfalls and disappointing behavior, and he wants to have a relationship with his people. God shows his love in a variety of ways:
- God supplies all of our needs (Philippians 4:19). From the moment we became part of God’s family, God began providing for our needs. Philippians reminds us that God is rich in love and glory and has an endless supply from which he can meet our needs. We can trust that the same God who provided for Israel, Paul, and his disciples, cares for us, too.
- God values us (Matthew 10:29–31). Regardless of our pasts, regardless of our sins, and regardless of what we think of ourselves, God considers us to be special. In fact, Matthew tells us that he knows when a sparrow falls to the ground, but he values us more than an entire flock of sparrows. We have value, and God wants us to realize our value to him so that we follow him more earnestly and love him more deeply each day.
- God listens to our cries and encourages us (Psalm 10:17 and 1 Peter 3:12). God hears our prayers, he hears our needs, and he hears our pain. Because of our connection to him, God listens and encourages us when we suffer or encounter trials. He is our hope, and his encouragement helps to sustain us through difficult times and to rely on him.
- God disciplines us (Hebrews 12:10). Like any good parent, God disciplines us when we need it. However, God never turns his back on us. He stays with us no matter what we do, encouraging us to seek his will, read his word, and do what is right.
God shows his love in so many ways, and because of our love and respect for him, our Christian-based clothing can give a voice to that love and help those who are longing to find hope in this world.
Why We Can Trust God the Father
We need to have faith that God knows all things and loves us with undying love, and the Bible offers proof as to why we can trust God as our father:
- God is the Creator of all things. (Genesis 1; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:4-6). God created not just us, but the whole world. God created all things so that creation would glorify him. We were created in his image for the express purpose of exercising our free will to love and obey him and have a relationship with him. God didn’t need us; God wanted us. As our creator, we can trust that he values and loves us.
- God wants what is best for us (Psalm 103:13; Romans 8:28; Hebrews 4:16). Just like any loving authority figure, God wants what is best for us, even if we don’t realize it. God sees the big picture. He sees what is best to work his will and promises to work out everything for his good and his glory. He offers us help in times of need, grace when we need it, and constant enduring love. We need to tune in to his will through the study of his word and prayer, establishing strong ties in our relationship with him.
- God never changes (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). The Bible assures us over and over again that God never changes. His love, authority, and power are consistent throughout all time. Not only do our actions not change his love for us, but also the times we live in, the actions of those around us, and comparisons from the past to the present do not change how God feels about us, his people. Unlike humans, God holds no grudges. You can count on God to be the same for all time.
So we can trust the Bible, his word, and know that it applies to us today just as much as it did to people centuries ago. We can trust God and what he promises to do for us. Christians have unspeakable joy because we know where to put our faith, and we have hope. We should talk to others of that hope to introduce others to God, and the message our Christian-based clothing offers may speak to people without us even realizing it.
What God Wants from Us
God wants his name glorified throughout creation, and he created us because he wants a relationship with us. Philippians 2:13 tells us that God works in us for his good pleasure, and James 1:17 tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from God. God made us to do his will and gives us all the good things in our lives—how wonderful that all he asks for in return is us.
God wants nothing in return from us except a relationship full of love and devotion. He just wants us. John 3:16 describes how God sacrificed his only son so that we could live in Heaven with him forever. When we read his word, study it, and apply it to our lives, we’re building our relationship with God, and when we pray, we are talking to him like a father, like a friend.
God only wants what is best for us, and in his perfect wisdom and love, he is providing for our needs and helping us to understand his will. God will never forsake us, and God will always be our perfect father.
