The first lesson we learn is love. We look to the person who cares for us and that becomes our first experience with the feeling we associate with love; that warm, cozy, contented feeling like a fuzzy blanket covering our shoulders when we are cold.
Yet, this feeling is such a far cry from what love actually is. To learn this at home is for a child the building block of our emotions in my opinion. There are families so in tune to God’s direction and His love that their entire lives are a reflection of the Love they have received from the Father. And, there are families who are so broken that it is only when one looks to the Father that one begins to understand that God IS Love and He will safely guide them to their true home.
There are families who are somewhere in between. The family that functions on a fairly normal basis (by human standards, I think); things are pretty routine; and disagreements are brought to an agreeable conclusion. These families are “ok”.
But, as one who grew up in the broken family and has spent my life as an adult in the “ok” family; I would like to challenge you to continually look to the Father for your example to parent.
He loves us unconditionally, we were created for His pleasure and because he was lonely, to be His companions.Yet sin entered the world via the evil one and the dangling of the apple of the desire to have and thus by that action we are broken and perfect no more.
Because that original design was broken and we are unable to return to that original state of perfection; instead of scrapping the whole design and dumping man into the scrap heap He provides for us- not by removing the brokenness but He brings us through to perfection by the challenges and obstacles we face.
His love provides our needs, not necessarily our wants; allows us to fall down and helps us back up; protects us when we need protection and allows reality to reap its consequences when we need to grow.
When the evil one wreaks havoc in our lives we are able to see, as Joseph did:
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20
The Perfect Parent demonstrates His love for us in so many ways, but none more evident than the sacrificial Love he demonstrated when He provided His own Son to be the route by which we can return to perfection and perfect companionship with Him.