Think about the last time you had a hard day. Picture that you come home, just wanting the day to end and to go to sleep, sulking the night away. When you step through the door, your dog comes racing around the corner to see you and members of your family come to soothe you.
Think of the example above, but put it here. A very wealthy father welcomed his son back, who had taken his inheritance and spent it all in reckless living. His purchases were all things that his father definitely would not have approved of.
In this story, a father was waiting for his son to come home after his son spent all the father’s money. He was looking out, watching for his son to come back. He was expecting him to return. What stands out to me (William) about this story is that the father never criticized his son after his return. He had forgiveness for his son.
Maybe you feel, at times, that God is frustrated with you. But He is always for us. He doesn’t hold anything against us when we come back to Him. This is true for parents too. Forgiveness is key to a functioning bond.
Risking saying something to get that thing off your chest is satisfactory to make amends.
As a son, I want to extend forgiveness to my parents when they are dealing with stress and taking it out on me, or when they say something and don’t mean what they said. I know them well enough to know that they love and accept me. And I know that if I have done something not helpful, I can be honest and tell them, and I know they will forgive me. They want the best for me.
2 Corinthians 5:19 (NLT) says, “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.”
I think God knew if we could come to Him and be forgiven, we could go to others and forgive them. He gives us the ability to forgive others. His Holy Spirit in us gives us the ability to offer others love, peace, patience, and other fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23, NASB).
My dad always likes to put things in the right order. When it comes to forgiveness, it seems like it’s out of order for us to try to forgive others if we haven’t asked forgiveness from God. As He forgives us, we are able to forgive a parent, a sibling, or the son or daughter that you are a dad to. Not much has changed among mothers and fathers—parents still want to forgive their kids, and kids appreciate when their parents ask for forgiveness.
I like how the father of the son, who went off and spent his father’s money, welcomed him back without expecting anything in return. That’s how I see God giving us second chances and how I would guess your son or daughter sees you as well.
Dear Dad
Dad, you are forgiven, you are someone who God said He loves and has forgiven and that He doesn’t remember what you’ve done, and neither should you. I love you, Dad, and forgive you and I hope that you can forgive yourself for anything you feel that has stayed hidden in your heart.
“Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!”
Micah 7:19 (NLT)
This is an excerpt from I Love You, Dad: Words to Honor and Humor You.
About the Authors:
Helen McIntosh, EdD, Counseling Psychology, is a counselor, educator, and coauthor with her daughter Blythe Daniel on I Love You, Mom! and Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters. From her professional experience, Dr. McIntosh authored Messages to Myself and Eric, Jose & The Peace Rug®. Her work has appeared in Guideposts, ParentLife, and HomeLife magazines. She resides in Georgia with her husband Jim. They have two children and five grandchildren.
Blythe Daniel is the coauthor of I Love You, Mom! and Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters, which she wrote with her mother, Dr. Helen McIntosh. She worked for Harper Collins Christian Publishing in marketing and publicity and enjoys her work as a literary agent. She lives in Colorado with her husband and three teenagers, including her author son William Daniel.
William Daniel is a middle schooler, competitive gymnast, and the author of You’re Joking Me: Jokes for Kids by a Kid. He enjoys telling jokes and making his family and friends laugh. He plays saxophone and wants to be a pilot. He has an older sister, Maris, and a twin sister, Calyn, who is also an author. William lives in Colorado with his family.
