¿Es "Padre Celestial" Sólo Un Título o un Papel Activo?

• Compartir en Facebook
• Correo Electrónico

Find God’s Unconditional Love Demonstrated Through His Fatherly Actions in Your Life

For many years I have accepted by faith that God is my heavenly Father. Some people refer to Him as “God the Father.” I have heard it said that people who have had challenging, if not downright horrible experiences with their earthly fathers will have difficulty accepting God as their heavenly Father. Although I did not grow up with a consistent father figure in my life – my mother was married and then divorced four times before I graduated from high school – I didn’t struggle with accepting God as a heavenly Father. But the reason I didn’t struggle is because I just accepted the term “heavenly Father” or “God the Father” as one of God’s many names or titles, such as I Am (Exodus 3:14), Jehovah (Psalm 83:18), Rock (Deuteronomy 32:4), Redeemer (Isaiah 41:14), Refuge (Isaiah 25:4). The name didn’t mean much to me. I didn’t view God as an active Father.

A medida que seguía a Jesús y buscaba conocerlo mejor a través de la oración y la lectura de la Biblia, Él comenzó a mostrarme cómo Él había sido mi Padre de una manera activa a lo largo de mi vida. En una serie de publicaciones en el blog, compartiré con ustedes algún aspecto de Dios que refleja cómo esperamos que nuestros padres terrenales nos críen, pero Dios lo hace de una manera mucho mejor. En esta primera publicación, presentaré a Dios como un Padre activo. Tanto como si ha tenido un padre bueno y constante en su vida como si no, siga leyendo para descubrir cómo le ha criado Dios.

Dios Nos Cría Activamente

We all have a heavenly Father who loves us (1 John 3:1). As Christians, we know Jesus is our everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6). Yet we often accept “everlasting Father” as one of Jesus’s titles without recognizing that He actively fathers us. In the next few paragraphs, I will share just a few examples of how Jesus has fathered me, which I will expound on in later posts.

We usually look at parents as role models in our lives. They teach us how to behave in society and in our own homes when we reach adulthood. If they haven’t loved and protected us as we needed during childhood, we tend to fear we will be just like them when we are adults. But we don’t have to be just like them. In fact, our heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit makes us Christ-like: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, en la misma imagen, as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18.) God fathers us by forming us in His image and helping us to mature to be Christ-like. When we do not feel our parents’ love, perhaps viewing them as lacking patience and gentleness toward us, we do not need to fear that we will also be impatient and harsh. As we reflect on our lives, we will see that God helped us mature in the fruit of the Spirit which is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” (Galatians 5:22–23.) One way God fathers us is by helping us become responsible, loving, mature adults.

God also fathers us by loving us unconditionally. When our parents aren’t consistent in their love for us, we begin feeling unloved. We may even wonder if God can possibly love us if our own parents didn’t fulfill that basic role of a parent. When God told Jeremiah, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3), He did not mean this for Jeremiah’s ears only. God loves us (you and me) with an everlasting, unconditional love. No hay nada que podamos hacer para acabar con Su amor por nosotros.. He lavishes on us His great love, calling us children of God (1 John 3:1). How do we know? Because when sin entered into the world through Adam and Eve and separated us from God (Genesis 3:22–24; Romans 5:12), He came into the world and died in our place so that our relationship with Him may be restored (Romans 5:8; 1 John 2:2). Even today when we mess up, when we miss the mark, God continues to love us. There is nothing we can do to fall outside of God’s love.

Y para mi último ejemplo, por favor, considere cómo todos anhelamos ser parte de una familia sana y funcional. Cuando hemos sido criados en disfunción con padres ausentes, ya sea física o emocionalmente ausentes, soñamos con ser parte de una familia cohesiva. Y eso es exactamente lo que Dios nos proporciona cuando nos convertimos en parte de la familia de Dios.

Dios crea una familia sana y amorosa entre Sus hijos (Salmos 68:6). Tenemos hermanos y hermanas cristianos que caminan por la vida con nosotros. Se nos enseña a ser buenos unos con otros (Gálatas 6:10) y a alegrarnos mutuamente cuando uno de nosotros es honrado (1 Corintios 12:26). Cuando uno de nuestros hermanos sufre, sufrimos todos juntos (1 Corintios 12:26). Jesús mismo fue un ejemplo de amor para nosotros y nos enseñó a amarnos unos a otros como Él nos amó (Juan 13:34).

In this family we are given elders who guide us like grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles would in a healthy, natural family. We are instructed not to rebuke our elders but to show them respect by encouraging them as we would our fathers and mothers (1 Timothy 5:1–2). And the elders are to teach the younger generations how to live and conduct themselves (Titus 2:2–5). We are set in the family of God with everything we need to live in love, functioning like the healthy family we have all dreamed of. This family gathers together and encourages one another (Heb. 10:24–25).

The family of God is not perfect; after all, it is comprised of human beings. We have sibling rivalry. Often siblings fight and complain because each one feels their parents treat other siblings better, such as spending more time with them or buying nicer things for them. Similarly, Christian brothers and sisters may get disgruntled because they feel the pastor or music director gives other people more opportunity to minister, such as speaking in church services or singing specials more often. We have the younger testing the boundaries of the older. The older brothers and sisters still like singing hymns while the younger ones prefer upbeat praise songs, and they will push the boundaries of the traditional songs. But God gives instructions for handling such things in a loving, healthy manner. We are to be merciful, kind, humble, meek, patient, forgiving (Colossians. 3:12–13). God gives us a family of God that is loving, functional and fulfills all that we have dreamed of for a family. He is our active Father!

Dios Le Cría A Usted

En esta serie de publicaciones, compartiré con usted cómo Dios me crió a través de muchos eventos y circunstancias en mi vida. Yo no soy, y usted no es, huérfano, no importa cómo sean nuestras relaciones con nuestros padres terrenales. Usted no es huérfano aunque no haya conocido a su padre terrenal. Espero que al leer esta serie de publicaciones y ver cómo Dios me crió, piense en su propia vida y considere las áreas en las que su padre parece haberse quedado corto. Considere cómo Dios le ayudó a superar esas cosas. Reflexione sobre su propia vida y vea de nuevo cómo Dios le ha criado. Podemos estar confiados en que Dios nos cría activamente a lo largo de nuestra vida.

Adaptado de ¡Hola Papá, Soy Yo! Descubra al Padre Que Le Ama y Protege, que se publicará en octubre de 2021.