I praise my son much more often than I praise my God.
I’m adding this to my ongoing list of reasons why I need to wear a “World’s Crappiest Christian” t-shirt. I go around telling my son how wonderful he is, even praising him for traits I’m not even sure are there yet, all day long, and what praises do I give my God?
I’m reminded of this quote from CS Lewis:
It is probably impossible to love any human being simply “too much”. We may love him too much in proportion to our love for God; but it is the smallness of our love for God, not the greatness of our love for the man, that constitutes the inordinacy.
God, I ask for your forgiveness. I thank you for the way you love me, even though my love for you is feeble, inconsistent, and just plain pathetic. Thank you that you know all this already and you don’t love me any less. Can’t fathom that.
i KNEW i heard you singing “Blessed be the name of the boy…” the other night.
seriously though, i feel joy, excitement, and love for him much more often than i do for Him. so, you certainly have an accomplice.
GREAT thought, CM.
Oh my… i needed to read that.
Thanks!
You could also look at it another way…the love of a parent for the child, I don’t think we can truly fathom God’s adoring love for us, until we become parents, at that moment it becomes so much more REAL to us, more understandable. The love of a child to a parent isn’t quite the same. This is just my opinion, and isn’t meant to be an excuse, but I’m not sure God even expects so very much from us, but rather is even that much more pleased by our awareness of our inadequacies (spelling oops). As a parent of a little bit older children, I am filled with pride and love, when my child makes the “right” choice, or is compassionate toward someone or feels sad for someone less fortunate…maybe this is how God feels? Just a thought.
i’m with Travis…i needed to read this too!
Perhaps a terrible realization but yet a realization that applies to us all…and that I so appreciate being reminded of. Thanks for your transparency in your parenting. I too find it impossible to fathom the depth of God’s love in comparison to the way I so inadequately love him. Feeble, inconsistent, pathetic… words that characterize my own love for God. How thankful I am that “the One who loves me most knows me best” is also the One who loved me first.
+5 cool points for your transparency and response to God
autumn–interesting point, I hadn’t thought of that!
elizabeth–thanks! =)