It is a great day when you learn that we, as children of God, are constantly growing. We are not the same people we were even yesterday. God continues to shape us, grow us, and teach us what it means to live as His children. Growth is not always smooth. Like little ones learning to walk, we stumble, fall, and sometimes make a mess of things. But none of that changes His love.
I think of parents at an annual Christmas play. The children are nervous, some forget their lines, others sing off-key, and one little boy is up there picking his nose the whole time. From the outside, you might laugh or shake your head at the mistakes. But not the parents. They’re smiling from ear to ear, taking pictures, laughing with joy, proud to say, “That’s my child.”
That is how God looks at us.
He saved us by grace, not because we were worthy, but because He chose to love us.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us Romans 5:8.
His love did not begin the day we got it right, and it doesn’t end the day we mess it up. Just like a father or mother whose heart is bound up in their child, He cannot help but love us, because He is love.
Others may judge you. They may shake their heads, whisper behind your back, or criticize you for your mistakes. But not your Father. He sees you through the eyes of love. He delights in you not because of your performance but because you belong to Him.
All your mistakes, sins, errors, and failures were taken care of on the cross. God loves you and reaches down to lift your face so you can look Him in the eye, face to face, cheek to cheek, with no shame or embarrassment. Why? Because Jesus took care of it all on Calvary. His blood washed away your sin and made everything right.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new 2 Corinthians 5:17.
In Him, you are not broken beyond repair. You are made new.
And because of that, you can finally rest. You don’t have to strive to belong. You already do. You don’t have to earn a place at the table. It’s already yours. You don’t have to fear being sent away. The Father Himself opened the door, pulled out the chair, and said, “Sit down, child. You’re home.”
When the Father looks at you, He looks at you the way He looks at Jesus. He delights in you. You are His beloved child in whom He is well pleased, before you even begin. He is not proud of you for your accomplishments but because of who He is. You are His, and He loves you because He is love.
So throw yourself on the couch. Leave your things lying around. There is no judgment here. There is no lack of love. You are home. This is your place. You’re not a visitor trying to keep the rules so you don’t get sent away. You’re family.
All the changes that happen in your life, the way you start to think differently, act differently, live more like you should, flow from this place of belonging. They’re not conditions for staying in the house. They’re the natural fruit of living in it. You’re doing what people do who live in your Father’s house. You want to. It’s birthed in you. It comes from the inside out.
And this is why you forgive, because you are forgiven.
Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye Colossians 3:13.
You love others, because you are loved.
We love him, because he first loved us 1 John 4:19.
You serve others, because you are served. You give generously, because your Father has been so generous with you.
Freely ye have received, freely give Matthew 10:8.
This is what life looks like when you’re at home in the Father’s house.
But so many of us have allowed performance-based religion to rob us of joy and weigh us down with burdens we were never meant to carry. Maybe you’ve lived believing you had to prove yourself to God, or earn His approval, or measure up to some invisible standard. But the gospel says you already belong. You are more accepted in your Father’s house than you ever felt in your own family growing up.
Maybe your dad once told you that you were beautiful, but you couldn’t feel it or believe it. Your feelings didn’t change the truth. You were beautiful because your father said you were. In the same way, you are a saint, faithful, beloved, and chosen because your heavenly Father says you are. Not because you feel it. Not because others see it. But because He spoke it over you.
That is the miracle of grace. God didn’t wait for you to climb up to Him. He came down to you. He didn’t stand back with His arms crossed. He stretched them out on the cross. And He doesn’t hand you a list of things to do. He gives you His Spirit and says,
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure Philippians 2:13.
This is the strange upside-down way of grace. In the world, you must achieve before you are celebrated. In the kingdom, you are celebrated before you even begin. In the world, worth comes from performance. In the Father’s house, worth flows from belonging. It is like waking up to find that what you thought was a dream is actually the real world, and all your frantic striving was only shadows.
That is why missionaries throughout history could leave everything behind. They weren’t working to get a smile from God. They were already living in His smile. That is why weary men and women in prisons and jungles could sing hymns in the night. They knew they were already home in the Father’s heart. That is why broken prodigals come running back. They know the door is still open and the Father is still watching the road.
You’re not trying to live for His acceptance. You’re living from it. That is the difference between religion and grace. In religion, you work for approval. In grace, you live and grow because you’re already approved.
Here, you’re free to become who you really are. Here, you grow because you’re loved, not to get loved. Here, you are home.