As I continue to work through the dad devotionals in the order provided by doing a search for dad on Bible.com, I have come to a blog that I know connects with many men, and yet I know that it isn’t me. With being the dads being about all dads, we need to make sure to not limit the topics to the comfortable or easy topics but dig into topics that can be uncomfortable or even difficult. Today’s devotional I found is titled “How Do I Forgive My Abusive Dad? | Devotional Reading Plan | YouVersion Bible“. It is a 5 day devotional by Pastor Mike Novotny from Time Of Grace Ministry. Today we close out on this devotional on a very important topic for many men out there.
The introduction to the devotional from Bible.com is:
Your dad was abusive. How do you forgive him? How do you heal? This video series answers tough questions about how to forgive your abusive father.
How Do I Forgive My Abusive Dad?
Today’s devotional is connected to these verses of scriptures from God’s Word: Luke 15:20-24.
‘So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. ‘
Luke 15:20-24
God’s Word is always interesting to me. Our Heavenly Father is always waiting and looking for us to come back when we have strayed. He is waiting to see us turn back to Him so that He can draw closer to us. God doesn’t want any of us to perish but that we would all come to the realization of our need for Him, our need to receive the gift of Jesus, and turn back to Him. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world but rather that through Him we would be saved. We see this in the story of the lost son also known as the prodigal son where the father is watching and while the son was still a long way off he saw him coming and filled with compassion for him runs out to meet him, giving him hugs and kisses. The son had come to the reality of what he had done and turned back and asked his dad for forgiveness. Let’s be like our Heavenly Father who is ready to receive our kids when they turn back and realize what they have done and how far they had strayed. We see in the verses how the father is quick to want to restore his son and celebrate that he is back and alive. We see in the verses how the father wanted to celebrate having found the son who was lost to the world but was now found. Let’s be the dads who are compassionate. Let’s be the dads who are looking out for the best for our kids. Let’s be the dads who never give up on our kids but hope they will come to their senses if they stray and turn back to God. Let’s be the dads who are always on the lookout when they stray for them to come back. Let’s be the dads who are ready to celebrate their return. Let’s be the dads who are ready to reconcile and restore them. As in this case where the son had no more inheritance because his dad had given it to him already and he had wasted it away, we can still restore them and welcome them back to the world of the living. Let’s be dads who if we have strayed can turn back to our fathers and our Heavenly Father to be reconciled, restored, and received. Let’s be the dads who if we have strayed and hurt our kids that we seek forgiveness not only from God but also from them for our behavior and its impact on their lives.
Today’s devotional has been provided by Time Of Grace Ministry (more details can be found https://timeofgrace.org/welcome-to-time-of-grace/?togipsrc=youversion&togpreselect=1-2)
Reading through today’s devotional, here are some takeaways for me:
(check out the devotional on your own too to see if you pick up other nuggets, and please share your findings in the comments)
What if His Abuse Led Me to Damaging Behavior?
- Sometimes hurt people hurt people.
- Sometimes people who have been sinned against will sin.
- Sometimes what abusive people say make you think you are dirty and it causes the kids to grow up accordingly.
- Sometimes the abuse is verbal and what has been said it impacts the way you are now living out your life not thinking you deserve any better.
- Sometimes the abuse repeats as you find yourself in abusive relationships because you think or feel like you don’t deserve any better.
- Sometimes the abuse causes you to try to numb the pain and drink too, get high, or even experiment with drugs.
- Sometimes the abuse causes you to become a workaholic because you want to prove them wrong, that you can do it and you are valued.
- Are you doing bad things because bad things happened to you?
- Are you wondering if there is hope?
- Are you realizing that you have sinned against God?
- There is hope!
- Jesus shared about the prodigal son who spent his life doing bad and damaging things on crazy living and he wondered if he could go back, if there was any hope for him when he got to the end of his rope.
- He wondered if he could go back to his dad and God because he had sinned against both.
- We see how the Heavenly Father will have compassion if we are willing to turn back to Him.
- Jesus tells that story for us when we are lost
- Jesus tells that story for us that we can come back
- Jesus tells that story for us so that we can be reconciled for what we have done
- Jesus tells how we can be restored to God and forgiven.
- Jesus paid the price on the cross for us to be able to forgiven.
- If you haven’t turned back to God yet, you can do it today.
- All of heaven will rejoice and celebrate your return for they will say this son of mine was dead but now he is alive again
- All of heaven will rejoice and celebrate your return for they will say this lost son has been found.
