Pragmatism In The Fathers Love

Pragmatism In The Fathers Love

Spooky Love
“You just need an experience in the Father’s love,” is what many teachers give as a pat answer to all challenges in life. And this is wonderful for those who have had that experience. However, it can seem elusive to many that look for it, get prayed for to receive it, try to believe for it, and yet never quite find it.

While I fully agree there is validity to experiencing the Father’s love and believing in it, I struggle when these become a formula for everything. There is a practical, less “spooky” side to this.

Rubber Meets the Road Christianity
Jack Frost taught on experiencing the Father’s love, however, he also put a huge emphasis on walking it out. Examples like repenting for ways we have misrepresented Father’s love to our families and others,  how well we relate to authority–with our parents, spiritual leaders, employers–these were simple ways where he showed how to express the Father’s love in our lives. First the natural, then the spiritual: How can I say I love God and submit to Him, if I cannot do that with man?

Many ministers stand in the pulpit and give all sorts of incredible testimonies and prophetic proclamations, but Jack would always say, “I want to know what the wife and kids think.” If it’s not good at home, then it’s just not good.

There are many practical skills we can learn to walk in and thereby experience the Father’s love. Jack focused on loving our families, making them our first ministry and walking in sonship. If we break that down even further, we can look at dynamics of emotional health. Let’s do that.

Skill Development
Abuse tears down personhood—I say the wrong thing and get slapped or I get that look that says I have no value. The three core rules to survive abuse are:

Don’t talk    Don’t trust    Don’t feel

Don’t talk means not being able to ask for help; it’s not okay to even have a problem. Don’t trust means keeping a wall around my heart and not letting anyone in. Don’t feel protects me from all the painful feelings bottled up over the years. But if I can’t acknowledge my painful feelings, how can I ever resolve them?

A small step is to simply start growing in awareness. Start trying to notice what triggers you, or sets you off, and stop denying feelings so much. Spend time praying it through. Take it to the Lord and ponder, “What bothered me about that? Why did that produce an emotional reaction in me?”

Beginning to be aware of your emotions and what things trigger you from day to day will get you moving in a pragmatic, proactive way toward an experience in the Father’s love.