I Cannot Love Him

“Do you love your father?” I was asked. “No, I don’t. After all he has done, I cannot love him.”
“Here’s what I want you to do. Ask God to give you his love for him.”

This was a conversation I had just after graduating from university with a conference roommate. It was most likely one of the most important conversations I ever had about my dad.

My father was an alcoholic. During the years that I had lived at home, there had been a lot of physical and emotional violence. Once, I saw him push my mother so hard, she broke her pelvis and was in the hospital for two weeks. My parents did not know that I saw what had happened. That memory and others played over and over in my mind. My heart was full of anger. My father had robbed me and my whole family of so much.

But as I thought about my roommate’s challenge, I realized I was being a hypocrite. If God loved me and forgave me, how could I not love and forgive my father? I began to ask God to give me his love for my dad. It was not quick, but the day came when I could say to my dad, “I love you.” He cried. These words had never been spoken in our home. That moment began a journey of several years of healing in our relationship and opened the door for God to do a spiritual work that resulted in my father accepting God’s love and forgiveness. It was truly a miracle of God’s transforming love in two lives!

Father God, thank you for your perfect, unconditional love and forgiveness for me. Help me to embrace it and allow your love and forgiveness to wash over the deep places in my life where there is hurt. May it spill over and bless all my relationships. Amen

For Today: Is there someone to whom you owe the debt of love? Can you pray and ask God to give you his love for that person?