A good pastor thinks of his church as his family.
A good scout leader does the same, as do teachers and mentors of children and teens. The best foster parents raise children who remember them as parental figures. Grandchildren raised by their grandparents are even closer.
When we provide instruction and love to those under us, a bonding process happens. Those we love become attached to us; in effect, they become our children.
Proverbs 29:21 illustrates this:
“He who delicately brings up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.”
There’s a key word in this verse: delicately. The English Standard Version says pampers. Different translations interpret this verse two ways. Being kind to your servant will either cause him to love you as a parent or will cause the servant to become a demanding weakling.
Christ loves us. During his lifetime on the earth, he treated those he interacted with in a kind and caring manner. We might even say he treated them delicately.
What sort of children have we become under the tutorship of Jesus? Do we love him as our parent, or have we become demanding weaklings? How we turn out for Christ is totally up to us. He offers us his love, and our response is how we repay him.
If we’re part of the family of God, we should behave like a child of the King. Only then will the world know we belong to him.
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Code: FGO.C.14.17d.vp.kjv