True North: Because He Loves You نموونە

Day 7: Savior

Being a great father is so important to me. I want to be a great dad to both of my kids. Most importantly, I want them to see God's love through me. I feel like there are plenty of ways I can demonstrate that to Sawyer. I can be strong for her. I can love her unconditionally. I can be kind to her and the others in our family. I can pick her up when she falls. I can be patient with her as she tests her boundaries and pushes the rules. I can be a strong foundation as the external world changes around her. On bad days I can be a shoulder to cry on; on good days I can be a fun friend, and on scary days I can protect her from the dangers beyond our doorstep. I can be wise, directing her to good counsel on big decisions, and encouraging her when she's on the right path.

There are a lot of things I want to be for her. But there is one thing I cannot be. I will never be her savior.

The greatest thing I can do for her, ever, is to point her to Jesus as her savior. Her personal decision to follow Christ will lead her through life's challenges and blessings so much better than I ever could. I can love her enough to allow her to make her own choice to follow Christ. I can teach her, encourage her, and demonstrate so much, but I cannot decide for her.

That's how much God loves us too. His greatest gift to us is His son Jesus Christ as a living sacrifice for us, and the opportunity to choose Him as our savior. Once we recognize that we are dead in our sin, that we are eternally separated from God by that sin, and accept Jesus as payment for our debt, only then is our life changed.

God makes Himself so attractive and available. He desperately wants to have a relationship with us, to be involved in our lives, to make us feel significant, to prepare us, to release us into the world, and to invite us into His redemption that is open to all people, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son so that whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life." John 3:16.

There is only one way Sawyer will live an abundant life, and that is through Jesus. My greatest gift to her is not the things she has or the things we've done together, it's leading her to decide her Dad is the greatest Dad in the world, and Jesus Christ is her savior.