Heavenly Father, Example to Me

“¹³As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”

— Psalm 103:13 (ESV)

I have to remember that it is from God that I draw my example from. Yes, I have my earthly father as noted above who shows compassion to his children and I should draw from there. But, as we look further back, I have to know that the compassion of the father came from the Father.

I recently wrote that we are to leave our father and that we only have our earthly father for a short while in this world. Remembering that and understanding it, I have to draw on my heavenly Father for the example of what right looks like.

I have mentioned before of my mission and values. One of, actually my first value, is it “Be the Example”. And the description of that value is to “Demonstrate what right looks like in any and all situations. Following the example provided by Christ Jesus.” This speaks volumes to me as I read this morning of the example that the LORD provides for us as our heavenly Father. He is our example and whatever we learn from others should be held to the example of Christ.

Where do you look for your example? Are you seeking guidance solely from those around you in this world? What if you were to seek to follow the example of our heavenly Father as His is the one copied by those before us and, He never leaves us?

Honor, To Go with You for Sharing

I am always intrigued when God brings me to something that He has taken me to at least once before. Like this morning, back to the Ten Commandments and the same one I studied just a few days ago. Only this time, I am seeing something different than before.

“¹⁶Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” – Deuteronomy 5:16 (ESV)

Yes, I am to honor my father and mother as commanded, but why. This morning I am able to see more of that why. I am to do so in the interest of long life and that I can take it with me and share with others. Yes, I am to share that with others as I move along into the place that God has me going.

I am sure that most have heard the saying, “do as I say, not as I do”. Well, the reason for that saying is that there is not a lot of doing and only a lot of saying. Everyone else is to follow the words except for those saying them. That does not seem to be the way of Christ and a good example of Him.

It is easy to say the words and scripture. It is something else to follow them in your daily life for all the world to see and embrace. I am to be the example of what right looks like and not just the speaker of what right looks like. I have to step away from saying the words and move toward the doing what is right. Honoring my father and mother is but one of those examples of what right looks like.

As was shared with me recently, fathers and mothers are not always deserving of honor based on their actions. And where I agree with that, God does not qualify this commandment by saying to honor them as long as they do things honorable. He does say to honor them so that you can live long and carry that honor forward. And that is the why behind the action. I can honor them by not celebrating them as the saying goes, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all”. I simply do not have to reference them, only love them in the way of Christ and work to carry forward that which is right and demonstrate the gospel to others.

My role is to carry the gospel forward and be the example of what right looks like in the process. As is also said, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. I have to imitate Christ in the way I walk and talk in this world. I have to honor my father and mother to carry that honor forward that others will do the same.

What is your approach to honor? Are you the one that speaks it and yet does not necessarily demonstrate it? What if you were the example of what right looks like and carried honor with you to live long and share forward?

Don’t Forget Your Earthly Father

“³Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 19:3 (ESV)

This morning I was brought to the passage in Leviticus titled “The LORD is Holy” as I continue my study of the word “father”. Here the focus of the passage is on the holiness of the LORD and our work to keep that alive. And yet, there is a verse of the eight that references our earthly parents. We are to hold the LORD in esteem and still revere our earthly father for the position he is in thanks to God’s infinite wisdom.

God placed me with my father for a reason. I may not know that reason for all of my time here in this world and may not even have a continued relationship with him during this time, but he is my father for some reason that God will reveal in His time.

I will say that the relationship I have with my father in this world is one more in line with a friendship as opposed to a father/son relationship. And for me, that is okay. Again, I come back to the fact that the LORD place me with him for some reason and regardless of how things are going now, I have to revere my earthly father for the position he was placed in my life.

I know that not everyone has a cordial relationship with their father. In fact, I know that there are many with a relationship, if that is what you want to call it, that may not have been very wholesome and may have been down right adversarial, abusive, and/or violent. And that is the way it goes sometimes, even in the world that God has created in all its wonder. Yet, we have an earthly father and his position in our lives is one that God placed him in and we should honor that position.

Now, let me be clear here and not paint a picture of something that does not exist. I am not saying that each of us should seek out our earthly fathers and work to create a “fake” fatherly relationship. I am simply saying that our fathers here on earth are our fathers for a reason that we may not know and that we should revere the position they hold and not always look to revere the person that they are. The reality is that there are those that are just plain bad. But even those are deserving of love from us as Christians.

Easier said than done for sure, especially when they have hurt us badly. Yet, we are to love all peoples in this world and do our work to spread the gospel to them all, regardless of what they have done.

What is your view of your earthly father? Are you looking at them for the person they are? What if you viewed them for the position they hold and realize that it is indeed God that put them in that position and they are to be revered for that position?

Commanded to Honor Your Father

I know that I have left off the other we are to honor in this world, “Mother”. I will say that I am currently studying the word “father” and will come back to “mother” in the coming weeks.

This morning I was brought to the Ten Commandments in my study. I forget the full daily value of these Commandments from God. I believe that we take them for granted in our daily living. We have been given the Commandment of not stealing, not killing, not bearing falsehoods, and yet we miss the Commandment to do something, remembering the Sabbath and honoring your father.

“¹²Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” – Exodus 20:12 (ESV)

God tells us to give honor to the ones that brought you into this world. There is no mention as to whether or not you like them or that you are near them. In fact as I noted in another study and post, men are to leave their fathers. God is telling us to honor them. We are to love them and treat them with the respect.

I think the thing to remember here is not that we have a father and mother to be honored, but rather it is the Commandment of God to do so. It is such and important part of who we are as Christians to live out the Ten Commandments, I have to remember those telling me to do something is just as important as those telling me not to do something.

What is your approach to your father? Are you forgetting that you have been commanded to honor him? What if you approached all of the Commandments the same and in this instance, focused on the doing of honoring your father?