January 30, 2022 · 1 Corinthians 4:15

In Formation: Spiritual Parenting

Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you'd not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

“What he's trying to get at there is that God the Father is a Father overall. Now, I have a beloved father, my dad, who has been amazingly raising me in the faith, and also raised me as a human. And I recognize him, and I call him father. But there's one who is truly the Father. And if we're talking about a spiritual sense, we'll be really careful, because God is our Father, and we all are under him. However, the Father, in some sense — he could say has had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And so the spiritual Father of all, Father God, the Father of Jesus Christ himself, has created a way of being in which he wants us to be a spiritual family. And some come along and they take a role in your life as a spiritual parent. They help you learn the ropes of faith. And often, I would say, sometimes you have a different person that comes up at different times in your life, and they play a certain role, to help teach you a certain aspect, or maybe in a certain crisis in life they come along and they walk with you, and they're spiritual parenting you in those moments. Now, most often these are your biological fathers. Especially when you're early on, and if you're growing up in the faith. I was blessed to have a mom, a dad who taught me the ropes of the Christian faith. They're the reason that I'd be a pastor, because they poured into me and loved me. And they still do.”