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You're tuned into Everyday Theology in Plain English, making sense of God's truth for your everyday life. Here's your host, the man who's a very human dad, but is about to introduce you to the perfect woman, Charlie Miller.

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Hey there. Welcome back to Everyday Theology in Plain English. I'm so glad that you're here. Today we're talking about God the Father. And for some of you, this might be the most personal and potentially painful episode that we've done. Because here's the reality. When you hear the word father, you don't hear it in a vacuum. You hear it through the filter of your own experience. Maybe your father was wonderful, present, loving, encouraging, and God as father sounds like the best news imaginable. But maybe your father was absent. Maybe he walked out when you were young, or there were, maybe he was there physically, but emotionally he was distant. Maybe you grew up wondering why you weren't worth sticking around for. Or maybe your father was present but harmful. Maybe he was critical, demanding, impossible to please. Maybe he was angry or abusive or unpredictable. Maybe the word father doesn't bring comfort, it brings pain. If that's you, hearing that God is your heavenly father might not feel like good news. It might feel like a cruel joke. Great, you might think, another father who's just gonna let me down. I want to be sensitive to that pain today. I know some of you are carrying deep wounds about fatherhood. And I want you to know that God knows it too. But here's what I also want you to know. God the Father is not like your earthly father. He is utterly different. And understanding who he really is might begin to heal some of those wounds. Here's what I want you to know right up front. Whatever your earthly father was like, God the Father is perfectly loving, completely trustworthy, and always present. Today, we're going to discover together who the Father really is and how knowing him can transform even the deepest wounds around fatherhood. So who is God the Father? In the Trinity, the Father is the first person, not first in time, all three persons are eternal, and not first in importance, all three are equally God, but first in order of relationship. The Father sends the Son, the Father and Son send the Spirit. Now, throughout Scripture, the Father is portrayed as the source, the planner, the one from whom all things come. He's the one Jesus called Abba, and that was an Aramaic term of intimate affection, something like Papa or Daddy. And here's what's remarkable: Jesus invites us to call God Father too. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught his disciples to pray, our Father in heaven. That is absolutely revolutionary. The infinite creator of the universe wants to be known as your Father. But what kind of Father is he? Well, let me paint a picture from Scripture. First, God the Father is perfectly loving. 1 John 3:1 says, See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are. That word lavished, man, that suggests an overwhelming, abundant, extravagant love. Not love that's measured or withheld, not love that's conditional upon performance. It's lavished love. And the proof of this love, well, that's in John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. The Father's love is demonstrated in the most costly gift imaginable. He didn't just say he loved us, he proved it. Here's the difference between God the Father and many earthly fathers. Earthly fathers might love inconsistently based on our behavior. God the Father loves us constantly based on his character. His love doesn't fluctuate with your performance. Second, God the Father is completely trustworthy. One of the deepest wounds from poor fathering is broken trust. Promises that weren't kept, reliability that just wasn't there, never knowing which version of dad might show up. But God the Father is utterly dependable. Numbers 23, 19 says, God is not human that he should lie, not a human being that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? When God the Father makes a promise, he keeps it every time. He doesn't forget, he doesn't change his mind. He doesn't have good days and bad days. He is perfectly consistent. Third, God the Father is always present. Some of you had fathers who were physically absent. They left, or maybe they were never there to begin with. Others had fathers who were physically present, but emotionally absent. They were in the room, but they were never really there. God the Father is neither. Jesus promised, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. That's in John 14, 16. The Father's presence with us is eternal, constant, and attentive. Psalm 68, 5 calls God a father to the fatherless. He specifically seeks out those who lack fathers and fills that role himself. And if you grew up without a father, God offers to be what you never had. Fourth, God the Father disciplines in love, not in anger. Hebrews 12, 6 says, the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. Some earthly fathers disciplined out of anger, frustration, or even cruelty. God's discipline is different. It's corrective, it's not abusive. It's for your good, not for his venting. It flows from love, not from rage. Divine discipline is what happens when a perfect father refuses to let his children destroy themselves. It's not punishment for rejection, it's training for flourishing. And fifth, God the Father delights in his children. Zephaniah 3:17 paints an incredible picture. The Lord your God is with you, the mighty warrior who saves. In his love, he will no longer rebuke you, but will get this rejoice over you with singing. God doesn't just tolerate you, he delights in you. He rejoices over you, he sings over you. Now, some of you never experienced your earthly father's delight. You only felt criticism or maybe indifference. But God the Father looks at you, his child, redeemed through Jesus Christ, and he delights. Let's hit pause for just a second. If this is making sense to you so far, drop a note, drop a comment, let me know. I love to hear from listeners, even if it's just to let me know that you're actually out there. Now you might be thinking, okay, Charlie, I hear what you're saying about who God the Father is, but I've got deep wounds around fatherhood. How do I actually experience God as Father when my experience of fatherhood has been so painful? That's really good and a really honest question. Let me give you three practical steps toward healing and reorienting your view of the Father. First, acknowledge that your earthly father was not a true picture of God. Let's imagine someone, let's say named Monica, who represents a pattern I've seen in many lives. Monica's father was harsh and critical, and nothing she did was ever good enough. And without realizing it, Monica has transferred that image onto God. She relates to God as if he's always disappointed in her, always demanding more. But here's the truth: Monica needs to embrace. Her father got it wrong. He wasn't accurately representing God. The problem wasn't with who God is, it was with who her father was. Now maybe that's you. Maybe you've been seeing God the Father through the lens of your broken earthly father. I understand why. It's completely natural. Our early experiences shape all of our expectations. Here's what I want you to know. God is not your earthly father. Whatever failures, wounds, or disappointments you experienced, that's not who God is. You have permission to separate the two. Your earthly father may have gotten it wrong, but God the Father gets it perfectly right every time. Second, let scripture redefine your understanding of fatherhood. Let me paint you another picture. Imagine a man, we'll say his name Troy, whose father abandoned the family when Troy was just five years old. Troy spent his whole life feeling like he wasn't worth staying for. And unconsciously, he assumes God the Father will eventually abandon him too. But Troy starts reading what scripture actually says about the Father. He reads Psalm 27:10, Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. He reads Roman 8:15, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship, and by him we cry, Abba, Father. Slowly, Scripture begins to overwrite Troy's assumptions. The truth about who God is starts to heal the lies that Troy believed about himself. Now here's the path forward. Don't let your experience define God. Let God redefine your experience. Let scripture show you what fatherhood was always supposed to look like, and discover that the father you've always needed has been there all along. Third, ask the Holy Spirit to help you experience the Father's love. This isn't just intellectual work, it's heart work. And we need supernatural help. Romans 8, 15 to 16 says, the spirit you receive testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. The Holy Spirit's job includes helping you experience your identity as God's beloved child. You can ask for this. You can pray, Spirit, help me know, not just in my head, but in my heart, that God is my Father and that He loves me. As we wrap up today's episode, here's what I want you to remember: God the Father is not like your earthly father. Unless your earthly father was perfectly loving, completely trustworthy, always present, and delighted in you with singing. Whatever wounds you carry from human fatherhood, God the Father is not the source of that pain. He's the healer of it. He's the Father you've always needed, the one who loves you lavishly, keeps every promise, never leaves, disciplines in love and delights in who you are. So here's your assignment for this week. Spend time each day this week reading one passage about God the Father and asking the Holy Spirit to make it real in your heart. Start with Matthew, maybe chapter 6, verses 9 through 13. That's the Lord's Prayer. Then Luke 15, 11 through 32, that's the prodigal son passage. Then Romans 8, 14 through 17 about being adopted as sons. And as you read those, pray, Father, show me who you really are. Heal the places where I've believed lies about you based on my earthly experiences of fatherhood. Now here's our community question. How has your experience of earthly fatherhood, good, bad, or absent, affected how you relate to God the Father? This might be deeply personal, but sharing can bring healing, both for you and for others who might feel alone in their struggle. Whether your earthly father was wonderful, hurtful, or missing, how are you learning to let God redefine what Father means? Now, as we close, would you be willing to do me a favor? Would you send a link to our show from YouTube or from wherever you listen to your podcasts to a friend or two who might benefit from hearing today's episode? I really would appreciate it, and your friends really might appreciate it as well. Next episode, we're exploring the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Who is he really? Is he just a feeling or some kind of mysterious force? Something strange and confusing? And what I'm going to share will introduce you to the most misunderstood and most present person of God in your daily life. Until then, remember you have a perfect father. He's not like the one who hurt you or left you or disappointed you. He's the father you were made for, and he is waiting to show you who he really is. Thanks for joining me on Everyday Theology in Plain English. I'm Charlie Miller, and I'm so grateful that you're part of this community. I can't wait to continue our journey with you next time.