Daily Devotional – Dad I’m Sorry

Daily Devotional

Our scripture for the Daily Devotional today is taken from Matthew 6: 14.For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” 

Years ago I was in prayer and I felt the Lord impress upon my heart that I was to forgive my father. I was perplexed. For much of my life, he and I had a good relationship. He was a quiet, calm man who worked hard and cared for his family. He was away from home a great deal of the time because he pastored a church, sang in a gospel group and worked a full-time job. The Lord showed me in my prayer time that I had resented his absence from our home.
As a child, I did not understand his heart and dedication to the Lord. I only experienced a sense of loss because of the lack of time I had with him as “daddy”. Sometime in my early thirties, I sat down and wrote him a letter asking him to forgive me for the resentment I had held in my heart against him. He called after receiving the letter and our conversation went something like this:
“Will you forgive me, dad?”
“Robin, I don’t understand.”
“Daddy, you don’t have to. Will you forgive me?”
Then Dad responded in great kindness, “Of course I will.”
“Thank you, daddy, and I am truly sorry for harboring ill-will against you in my heart.”
For me, this was one of my greatest treasures. That resentment, not only separated me from my dad, it separated me from receiving the love of my Heavenly Father. From that time on our relationship changed. We became the best of friends. Oddly enough, this was also a time when God really did become my Father in that I could now feel His love. There is a tremendous connection between how we feel about God and how we feel about our natural father. When our natural father has let us down or worse, abandoned or abused us, it becomes difficult for us to see God clearly.

Take a few minutes right now, no matter your age, and decide to forgive your father for his shortcomings. When you make this choice, you are freed from the toxic, emotional baggage you’ve carried around and, furthermore, you can begin to see God more clearly as the loving, perfect Father that He is. Earthly fathers are meant to reflect God’s image. When they fail to reflect God, His character and His nature, children often become embittered towards God.

fall scents for your home

No prayers can be heard which do not come from a forgiving heart.—— J.C. Ryle

Let’s Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please forgive me for my bitterness towards my earthly father. I choose to forgive him for his shortcomings (his abandonment, his abuse, his neglect, etc.).  Help me now to see You more clearly and accept You as my loving Father who will act on behalf of my well being.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

EncouragementRobin Bertram is an author, speaker, ordained minister, and the executive producer and former host of the nationally and internationally syndicated television show, Freedom Today. She has been a leader of media leaders for 15 years and has placed several Christian programs onto the national and international stage. She is the author of No Regrets how loving deeply and living passionately can impact your legacy forever (Charisma House Publishing) and Hidden Treasures (Abingdon Press).

 

 

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Daily Devotional – Dad I’m Sorry
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