Brian Doyle, Iron Sharpens Iron

Let’s take a look at how God the Father speaks words of affirmation to God the Son in Matthew 3, Luke 3 and in Mark 1:11; “And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Here, God the Father says three things to God the Son and He starts with:

Identity. ‘This is my Son’. He says this first. Kids of all ages, especially in the 21st century, need to know ‘Who am I?” and “Whose am I?”. Identity is a big deal, and so many struggle with this.

A primary role of an earthly father, following the example of God the Father, is to make clear our child’s identity. We can do this in a variety of ways but one way we must do it is to declare it with our words. One way that I verbally affirm my children’s identity is to pause and pray over them and say to God; ‘Thank you for my son/daughter and that I get to be his/her dad.’ You can do this!

Next God the Father immediately moves to His unconditional love for His Son.

Feelings. This is not just a declaration but rather a verbal affirmation of His ‘feelings’ for His Son – “whom I love.” Many of us dads tend to show our love by our provision, by our protection and with our presence. These are all good but these cannot replace our heartfelt words of love, both written and especially spoken.

Our own children need to hear how we feel about them over and over and over again. God the Son needed to hear this from God the Father. He is our Perfect Model. You can do this. Tell your kids today “I LOVE YOU!”

God the Father has affirmed His Son’s Identity and His love for Him and next He declares…

Thinking. He declares what he thinks about His Son – “with you I am well pleased.” He was proud of Him or ‘well pleased’. The Son brought the Father pleasure and He delighted in Him. Note that this was during the baptism of Jesus by John so it was before Jesus had preached any sermon, healed the sick, called his first disciple or performed any miracles. 

The Father was outwardly pleased with His Son – and said so loud and clear so that all could hear. We must tell our kids we are proud of them – they need to hear it and not just because of their good grades, athletic prowess, talent and ability or their good behavior.

Like identity and love, God the Father took great pleasure in His son – unconditionally. You and I can do this. Go tell each of your kids today “I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!”