The Glory of God in a Home II
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Important messages
The Love of God in the Home
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| Tom, Raquel, 5 children, 2 spouses, 3 grandchildren |
Raquel:
“I always remember how my parents took that time for us.”
“They were very faithful and disciplined in the way they brought
us up. We didn’t get into a whole lot of trouble, because we knew there
would be consequences for disobeying the rules.”
Dan: “You guys are getting older and I thought
I’d better write and let you know how thankful I am for the both of you. I love
you a lot.”
“One time after a meeting, I remember you and Dad coming to each
of us kid’s beds and praying for us, going from bed to bed – in the middle of
the night. Thanks for praying for us and for continuing to pray for us.”
“When I was in 5th grade, Dad asked me what things I
really liked in school and was interested in. Science was what I was interested
in at that time. You let me know that you would help me pursue those
interests.”
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| Dan Ruth Shelley Anna |
“Dad sat down with me and asked me if I thought he’d been too
strict with us. I remember saying ‘no’, I didn’t think so. I don’t know of one
spanking that I did not deserve. I deserved every one of them. I remember when
we were in Pinotepa and you’d come back from a trip. You would ask Mom how we
behaved while you were away. We knew we hadn’t and knew a spanking was coming –
Mom had already forewarned us. We went into the bathroom. You asked us what we
did wrong, you spanked us and then prayed with us. Dad spanked harder than Mom,
although Mom’s brush could be painful too. I don’t ever remember you spanking
us in anger. It was torture though when you sent us to a room and waited a
while before coming in and disciplining us.”
“I can remember numerous occasions when people would tell Mom
how well behaved we all were, when we walked into McDonalds with eight kids.
This happened quite a bit. Aunt Joanne told us after visiting with Grandma
& Grandpa Peterson when we were boys: ‘Your dad only had to say it once,
and you would obey.’ She seemed to be so impressed by the way we were brought
up. Thank you for all you’ve done for us and the way you invested in our
lives.”
“He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him
disciplines him diligently.” Proverbs 13:24
The love of God is unique. In this world there exist certain
natural attributes and emotions that are evident between family members,
friends, sweethearts, spouses, etc… I’m not sure whether these can be correctly
called “love” or not. There are different intensities and strengths in these
attributes and emotions, depending on the closeness of the relationship between
these people. In the great majority of cases, the strongest sentiment and the
one that we hear most about is that which exists between a mother and her
child.
Many hard-hearted sons, violent criminals, recall with tears the
love of a mother. Nevertheless, the love of a mother for her son is still a
natural love that exists independent of the religion of the mother or the lack
of it. All the relationships built on human love, without exception, can fail.
The Psalmist affirmed, “If my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will
take me up” (27:10). To be abandoned by parents is not a hypothesis, but an
actual reality that is increasingly more frequent.
The Apostle Paul wrote a hymn extolling God’s love in 1
Corinthians 13, but the love of God is unique, I repeat, and also
incomparable. Because there is nothing, by which to compare it, it is
impossible to find a way to use something familiar to us, by which we can
define it. The word infinite must always be a part of any
definition of it. God’s love is infinitely intense, passionate, kind and
faithful.
We can be sure of one thing: The love of God always does what is
best in every case. God is 100% faithful to His children in applying whatever
means perfectly necessary to their lives, in order that their spiritual
condition might grow and improve. The truth is that this work is extremely
difficult. The process of sanctification, in all its aspects, so that a human
being can gain the victory over his carnality and become truly humble, compassionate,
and possess many other attributes of godliness, requires acts of divine wisdom
and the application of discipline that often must be very severe. Jesus said to
the church in Laodicea, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline”
(Rev.3:19).
Let’s look at the case of Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob. God
had plans of utmost importance for him and, because his father was not
fulfilling his parental responsibilities very well, God had to intervene. We
know the story. At 17 years of age he was sold into slavery by his brothers and
taken to Egypt. The Bible leaves it very clear that God’s hand and will was
behind all that took place. Thirteen years later, when his brothers came to
Egypt and were treated harshly, they recognized their guilt and cruelty towards
Joseph, and spoke of the anguish of his soul, pleading with them not to sell
him to the Ishmaelites. They showed no compassion and God Himself did not
respond to his grief. Thirteen years of slavery and prison were necessary to
mold the favored and protected youth into a wise and compassionate governor.
Overall, God was cultivating His love into the heart of Joseph,
the only love with which, in the end, he could gain and save his family. Christ
interceded to His Father, asking that the divine love that the Father and Son
had enjoyed since before the foundation of the world… eternally… should be in
His disciples (Jn.17:26; 15:9). Our love is not sufficient to carry out divine
purposes, and for that reason God wants us to reflect His love (1 Jn.2:15,
4:10, 12, 19, 5:3).
The Christian parent must clearly understand the doctrine of
God’s love in us, in order to bring his children up rightly. In no way can he
do it with human, parental love, because it is, in fact, an obstacle that
stands in the way, so that the child cannot experience what is best for him.
The father that does not discipline, in a practical form, impelled by the love
of God, according to the text at the head of this article, hates his son. He
might try to justify himself, saying that his reason for not applying the
necessary discipline, is because he loves his son too much to spank him, but
this is a deception and the biblical truth tells us the opposite.
Loving discipline is the most important demonstration of God’s
love, put of course, there are many more. We have already mentioned some and
Raquel and Dan also have written about their childhood and youth. They write of
the interest and the time dedicated to them. They speak of our prayer for them,
something that continues to this day. We could certainly tell of other ways to
show God’s love. However, what is badly misunderstood these days, is not only
parental discipline, but the love of God itself… something of supreme
importance, which, if not correctly understood, will have a disastrous effect
upon the church, in doctrine and practice.
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