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Christian, why should you be holy? Because you’re supposed to be? Because you want to be a good example to others? Because you have to? Because you don’t want to go to hell? Because you don’t want to face the sting and shame of sin?

Each of these may be good reasons, but when Peter calls Christians to holiness, he begins with a different motivation. In 1 Peter 1:14-16 he says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

Be holy because God is your Father!

For some of you, the fact that God is your Father is no incentive to holiness. It makes it worse in your mind. You picture God as Father and you think of a stern father who's impossible to please, a distant father who is never emotionally available for you, an absent father who you've never met, or an abusive father who cannot be trusted.

A. W. Tozer put it this way: "From a failure to properly understand God comes a world of unhappiness among good Christians even today. The Christian life is thought to be a glum, unrelieved cross-carrying under the eye of a stern Father who expects much and excuses nothing. He is austere, peevish, highly temperamental and extremely hard to please."[i]

Christian, don't superimpose your daddy issues on God! He is perfect, loving, kind, gentle, gracious, merciful, and bubbling over with love for His children. I believe that nearly every Christian struggles with this to one degree or another. We may not admit it, but there’s some sort of “father hunger” in our hearts that makes it hard for us to rejoice in the love of our heavenly Father.[ii]

If you still don’t believe me, consider a passage like Luke 15:10. Read it below or open your own Bible and read it now.

Luke 15:10 -- "there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Stop for a moment and visualize this passage. What do you see? Michael and Gabriel cheering, giving each other high fives? For decades that’s what I’ve thought. Could it be my own father hunger has caused me to miss the obvious?

Look at the text again. Who is rejoicing? The angels? Or someone who is “in the presence of the angels”? Who is it that is in the presence of the angels? Is it not the Father? He is the One rejoicing over His sinning children who come home!

When I meditated on this truth, my mind was immediately drawn to the story of Cheer Dad. Last year at York High a loving dad literally made a fool of himself (at least in the eyes of many) as he cheered on his daughter. She was a cheerleader, performing her cheer routine to pump up the crowd and her dad mimicked every cheer to perfection. Why? Because he adored his daughter.

Dear Christian, it is not the angels who cheer you on when you repent (although, perhaps, they’re cheering too). It is your Father. Oh, how he loves you! And by the way, if you’re still not convinced, read the immediate context: Luke 15:11-31 tells the story of a father making a fool of himself (at least in the world’s eyes) as he runs to welcome his prodigal son home.

Last night I was looking at a card that my 6-year-old made for me for my birthday last year. I didn’t laugh at her artwork or berate her penmanship or correct her grammar or rebuke her for her spelling errors. No! My heart bubbled over with joy and love for my daughter.

Dear Christian, is this not but a faint echo of the Father’s incomprehensible love for you, His child? Your flawed and feeble attempts at holiness are not met with scorn, but with delight by a God who bubbles over with love for YOU!

So pursue holiness, because God is your Father.

 

[i] A. W. Tozer, The Best of A.W. Tozer, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978), 121.   [ii] Douglas Wilson, Father Hunger: Why God Calls Men to Love and Lead Their Families (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012).