S6 EP10 | 7 Attributes that Make God the Perfect Father
Many of us have been left hurt, disappointed and disillusioned by our earthly fathers.
And that relationship makes it difficult for us to see and trust God as a good father. We just haven;t experienced that reality in our human relationships.
But the good news is that God is not a reflection of our fathers - he is the PERFECTION of our fathers.
In this episode, Carla shares 7 Key attributes that our earthly fathers may have failed at - but God perfectly embodies.
Need help walking through a difficult season? Book a discovery call with Carla to see how 1:1 coaching may be a good fit for you.
God's Unconditional Love:
John 3:16
Instruction: Embrace God's unconditional love, demonstrated through the sacrifice of His Son for reconciliation.
Divine Provision:
Matthew 7:11
Trust in God's promise to provide not just physically but also emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
Divine Protection:
Psalms 3:3
Find security in God as your shield and strong tower, a source of unwavering protection.
Inseparable Love:
Romans 8:38-39
Understand that nothing can separate you from God's love—no mistakes, sins, or shortcomings.
Divine Forgiveness:
Psalm 103:12
Receive God's forgiveness freely, understanding that repentance is met with grace.
Constant Presence:
Deuteronomy 31
Rest assured in God's promise to never leave or forsake, unlike any earthly father.
Faithfulness to Promises:
Deuteronomy 7:9
Rely on God's faithfulness, knowing that He keeps His promises through generations.
Affirming Truth - I can trust God as my loving Father.
Key scriptures:
Romans 5:8:
“While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
John 3:16:
Mentioned in the context of God's unconditional love: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Matthew 7:11:
Referenced when discussing God's provision: "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"
Psalms 3:3:
Quoted in relation to God's protection: "But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head."
Romans 8:38-39:
Referenced to highlight the inseparability of God's love: "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Connect With Carla:
Inquire about 1:1 coaching ---> carlaagreswellness@gmail.com
Join In His Image Wellness Collective ---> carlaargeswellness@gmail.com
Come hangout on IG with me @carlaarges
Check out the blog
TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Carla: Hey friends, welcome to Affirming Truths. I'm your friend and host, Carla Arges. This show is a safe place to share our struggles, grow in faith, and root our identity in Christ. My hope is that you will leave each episode feeling encouraged in your journey. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode and it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review.
[00:00:30] Carla: I am so glad you're here. Let's get started.
[00:00:37] Carla: Hey friends, welcome to Affirming Truth. I am your host and your friend, Carla Arges. If we are not friends on Instagram, come and find me. I love to chat with you guys in my DMs and Yeah, we're going to get into a bit of a heavy topic today. Um, a couple of seasons ago, I did an [00:01:00] episode on the mother wound.
[00:01:02] Carla: And if you haven't had a chance to listen to that, go find it. It's a good one. And I wrestled with Talking about something similar when it comes to dots and we're approaching Father's Day And it's just really been on my heart to talk to You to me my own, you know inner child About the hurts that we've had from our dad and how that can get in the way of us fully Trusting God our Heavenly Father, and I just want to encourage you today God You God is not like your earthly dad.
[00:01:44] Carla: God is not the reflection of your earthly father. He is the perfection of your earthly father. Do you hear that? He is the perfection of your earthly father. I know some of you have [00:02:00] been so hurt, abandoned, abused, neglected. Some of you have strained relationships, some of you have gotten to the point of reconciliation, but some of those old wounds still exist because they take time to heal and I identify with you guys so much on that.
[00:02:23] Carla: Um, I have not had. An easy relationship with my parents, as you guys know, um, and the challenges with my dad were a little bit different than the challenges with my mom, but they were still there and a lot of ways he was absent. He wouldn't stick around for the hard stuff. I had to. Earned his love in a lot of ways, and we've had conversations about that.
[00:02:58] Carla: Um, [00:03:00] he relied on a parenting style that he knew that just was not good for me in our relationship, you know, corporal punishment. And there was just a lot, there's a lot of pain. There's a lot of history there. Yes. God is working good things out in it. Yes. God is a God of reconciliation, but I did go through a season disappointed and disillusioned with God.
[00:03:30] Carla: And maybe you're there too. Maybe you have a hard time seeing God as good because you're Identification of a father figure is so bad and so hard and so hurtful. And I just want to encourage you today that God, God is the perfection of our earthly father. And I'm going to talk, there's so many attributes of God as a father, but I'm going to talk about seven [00:04:00] today.
[00:04:01] Carla: To really hopefully heal your heart and allow you to get closer in relationship with God as your Heavenly Father. Or maybe you have created distance because of wounds and hurts from your Earthly Father. I want you to know that God loves you, and He longs to be in deep relationship with you, and He longs to be that healing balm in your heart to cover your pain and work it out for your good and His glory.
[00:04:35] Carla: Here's the exciting thing. When we accept Christ, we are adopted into God's family, and we become a joint heir of Christ. In Romans 8 we read that we have received the Spirit of Adoption, by whom we cry Abba, Father. As born again daughters of Christ, [00:05:00] daughters of God, we are adopted into the family. God is our Heavenly Father.
[00:05:06] Carla: And here are seven things in a list of a million, but seven things that we can count on from God that we may not have been able to count on from our earthly fathers. Number one, He loves us. Maybe you've doubted. Your father's love, but God, the father loves us. We read in John 3 16, that he loves us so much that he sent his only son to die, that we could be reconciled with, with God.
[00:05:43] Carla: God wanted to adopt us into the family. God loves us so much that he was willing to sacrifice for us, too. God provides for us. Maybe you had a father that [00:06:00] didn't provide, not just for your physical needs, but your emotional needs and your mental needs. But God is not like that. He has promised to provide.
[00:06:12] Carla: We read in Matthew 7 11 if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts How much more will your father in heaven give good things to those who ask God wants to provide for you? Yes to provide for your physical needs, but he wants to provide you with hope and joy and courage and rest and boldness and all the things that you need To get through this life as a warrior, as an overcomer, as a victor in Christ Jesus.
[00:06:53] Carla: Number three, God protects us. I know that for me personally, [00:07:00] I felt a lack of protection from my dad. And it made me insecure. It made me unsure. Growing up as a child, not feeling protected by those who are meant to protect you. It, it caused a lot of damage that I've had to have healing from. But God protects us.
[00:07:23] Carla: We read in Psalms 3 3, But you, O Lord, are a shield for me. Glory to the one who lifts up my head. God is our shield. He is our strong tower. He is our portion. He is our deliverer. We can count on the protection of God. Now, that doesn't mean we don't face trials. We see time and time again in the Bible that His beloved faced trials, but we see that He did not, they did not face them alone.
[00:07:59] Carla: We [00:08:00] see God's Protection in the fiery furnace and in the lion's den, we see God's protection in the shipwrecks and the snake bites and all of that. God protects us. Or, nothing can separate us from the love of God. I used to feel like Love was determined on my performance. And if my before performance, my inability to fall in line was a little bit off, then I would be separated from the love of my parents.
[00:08:34] Carla: Well, we know in Romans 8, 38 to 39, that nothing can separate us. Nothing, nothing up above, nothing down below life, death, our, our tendency to wander, our mistakes, our sins. We don't have to earn God's love. It's freely [00:09:00] given to us and nothing can separate us from that. That is amazing, what comfort, what security, the security I lacked as a child, I get in God.
[00:09:14] Carla: Nothing can separate it. His love for me is not conditional, it is unconditional. I can be sure of that. Oh, such security in that. Number five, He forgives us. He forgives us. As we ask for forgiveness, He forgives us. We don't have to do a song and a dance. We don't have to make up for it. He sees our earnest repentance and He forgives us.
[00:09:48] Carla: As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103, [00:10:00] 12, 6. He never leaves us or forsakes us. Maybe that is hard for you to believe, having had an earthly father that abandoned you, that left you, that left your family. Remember, God is not the reflection of your earthly father.
[00:10:21] Carla: He is the perfection of your earthly father. And in Deuteronomy 31, he has promised to never leave us or forsake us. And here's the best part in number seven, he keeps his promises. All those promises I just listed, that He loves us, that He provides us, for us, that He protects us, that nothing will separate us, that He forgives us, that He never leaves us.
[00:10:50] Carla: We can be assured of that because number seven says He keeps His promises. In Deuteronomy [00:11:00] 7, 9 we read, The faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. God keeps his promises. He cannot lie, friend. The one who is broken hearted over her relationship with her dad, the one who is feeling that pain extra as we head into Father's Day, you have a good, good father in God.
[00:11:47] Carla: Let him heal. Your wounds. Let him be the example of what a father is, not your earthly father. [00:12:00] You know, even those who have had great relationships with your dad, at some point he has disappointed you at some point he has hurt you because even the most perfect earthly dad is not perfect, but our God is.
[00:12:21] Carla: He is perfect. He is the perfect father, full of love, full of grace, even in the way he disciplines us. Discipline, when I was growing up, was met and embodied. Fear and shame and guilt, fear was a big one, but I have never felt those things as God has corrected me. I have only ever felt love and grace and mercy.
[00:12:59] Carla: I have [00:13:00] never. Felt shame or fear or insecurity about my position of how where I stand with God. I know that I know that I know that I am his child. I know he loves me. I see each day how he provides for me. I see each day how he protects me. I have experienced how nothing has separated us even in the depths of my sin and my rejections.
[00:13:32] Carla: He forgives me every day. He never leaves me, even when I feel abandoned by the world, He is there, and He keeps His promises. My affirming truth for you today is I can trust God as my loving Father. And we read in Romans 5, 8, but God demonstrated His own love for [00:14:00] us in this. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
[00:14:07] Carla: God loves you so much. Remember, friend, He is not the reflection of your earthly father. He is the perfection of what fatherhood is. You can trust Him. You can lean on Him. And he can help you heal from your wounds. I love you, friends.
[00:14:34] Carla: Thanks for joining me today. I hope we're already friends on social media, but if we're not, come find me on Instagram at Carla Arges or at Affirming Truths. Can't wait to see you back here next week. Bye, friends.