June 11th

Hijacking the American Dream

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8

Do you know that you can have more than one father?

Let's start with the obvious-you've got an earthly father. You can trace your ancestry all the way back to Adam if you got real serious about it. Hopefully, you have had the opportunity, and taken it, to build on the relationship you have with your earthly father, to deepen it and make it truly significant in your life.

But not only do you have a father in the flesh, I also hope today that you have a father of the faith-someone who led you to Christ or discipled you in your faith. You could trace this lineage, if you wanted, all the way back to Abraham.

Here's kind of the odd thing about that, though: Abraham was not only the father of the Judeo-Christian faith, but also the Islamic faith finds its father in Abraham. That's kind of confusing.

This is why Peter, in our verses today, would want for you to add to that faith. Okay? Add to your faith some virtue. Add to your faith some knowledge. Just don't say, Well, I'm one of the faith. Which faith?

Because now you have another father today who wants to be your Father of forgiveness. And that's what we all need is a relationship with God that allows for Him to not just be our Father of faith, but our Father of forgiveness.

For all of us, this takes us to a whole new level. But many of us limit our identity. Some of us are still limiting our identity to that fleshly father that we have, saying I'm the way that I am because of him, the genes that I was born with and the temper that came with it, or whatever the case may be.

We'll limit our identity, if we're not careful, to this fleshly father that we were born from here on Earth. Or, from a faith standpoint, we'll kind of cap it out there and say, Well, yeah, I have faith.

Everyone has faith. The question is whether your faith has now changed your identity. Have you made God your Father of forgiveness, confessing the guilt of your sin and allowing Him to wash you clean of it and come live inside of you?

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You are so far beyond the example of earthly fathers that I have seen! You really are the perfect Father, and I need You today to become my Father of forgiveness. Take my sin away and live in me from this day on!

Amen