The Way of the Father: Lessons From My Dad, Truths About GodНамуна

In one of the many confrontations the Pharisees instigated with Jesus to try and manipulate Him, they asked: “Which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” His answer offered a blueprint for how to live and love: “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:36-39).

While the sequence we are given is to love God first and then love everyone else, we tend to miss the third focus of our love found in Jesus’ last two words: “as yourself.” Knowing who you are, accepting and living out whom God made you to be, is the catalyst for being able to love Him and others. All my life I watched my dad’s endless drive to serve with excellence in everything he did. His joy to help others was motivated by truths like these from Christ and Paul’s words from today’s passage.

Scripture is filled with principles about the blessings from hard work and seeking excellence, while also offering warnings against laziness, apathy, expectation, and entitlement. Yoking up the truths in Proverbs, Jesus’s teaching in the Gospels, along with Paul’s letters, gives us a clear biblical mandate to do the right thing in the right way for the right reasons. Doing God’s will in God’s ways for God’s purposes. There is an old saying that goes, “More is caught than taught.” My dad certainly shared a lot of truth with me in his life, but far more of what I learned from him was from observing, watching, “catching” his tireless work ethic and constant desire for excellence in every area of his life.

Another amazing aspect of the Gospel we must discover is that no matter the example any of us had growing up or our past personal history, our Abba Father can take us to a new place, teach us new truths, motivate us by His Spirit, and place us on His path to a life of excellence. Every day is a new opportunity for a fresh start with an unending supply of His grace and mercy.

What is one motivating truth you can take away from today’s devotional to encourage you to serve the Lord and others, to remind yourself that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”?