The Perception of Single Fatherhood- part 4

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” -2Cor 5:17 (NKJV)

 Our final portion of the series has wrapped up. We closed it out with the most important view on single fathers of all- how God sees us. If you look at the verse above, we focused on two very keys words: “in Christ”. We as a group discussed what that truly means. One answer that I especially appreciated was when one of the guys referred to being in Christ as “our identity”. When we are adopted into God’s family, we are given a whole new meaning in life, one that if we are truly walking with the Lord, cannot be shaken or stolen from us. A father who understands what this new identity is and walks accordingly is a powerful, powerful asset to the Kingdom.

Once again, I asked the dads several questions for discussion:

1.      Based on the Matthew West song, “Child of the One True King”, what was your “old” name in life, and now that we are “in Christ”, what is your new name? Previous identities were seen as “loser”, “addict”, and even some profanities. As born again sons of God, however, we became “son of the Most High”, “redeemed”, and “forgiven”. It was so great to see the men realize who they truly were as followers of Jesus Christ.

2.      Do we truly believe that His Word is true? Are we living it out in our own life?

 

3.      As a new creation in Christ, we have been “bought back” into right relationship with God. How will you take your new identity and apply it to your role as a father? I absolutely LOVED one of the answers one dad said: “Just because she left me doesn’t mean He will too.” Wow! Talk about understanding who you are in Christ! Of everything we discussed this night, this sentence hit me the hardest. I am absolutely blessed by the way I’ve seen some of these men grow and heal over the past several months. It just goes to show that when we stay submitted to God’s will, His promises will manifest themselves in our lives accordingly.

Some other verses we covered as a group were Mark 3:28-29, Prov 20:7, John 10:10, and 2Cor 1:20. Take some time to look those over when you can and see if/where they fall into your own life- whether you are a single parent or not. I closed the evening out with this final paragraph; and remember, we ALL have a new identity once we become “in Christ”.

“God does not see us as the world sees us; He doesn’t even see us as we see ourselves sometimes. What we must understand is that as new creations in Christ, we are perfect in every way. Jesus never promised that it would be easy, but He did say that through Him we can overcome anything. He tells us in John 10 that His sheep hear His voice. The question is ‘Are you listening?’”