This story is certainly the one that best reveals the heart of the Father, it is simply extraordinary and I encourage you to take a moment to read it in full in Luke 15: 11-32. Jesus reveals here wonderful aspects of the heart of God for us who are His children. This son behaved in a terrible way by completely rejecting his father and his family to go and live his life according to his desires and his plans. This led him inexorably to hit rock bottom until he became aware of his situation and his mistake. So he got up to go to his father with a repentant heart. No one came to look for him, it is his choice to want to separate himself from his mistakes, to ask forgiveness in order to change his way of living… To know oneself loved is to find the way back to the Father.
The first thing about the Father's attitude is that he did not go and look for His son… He did nothing to “force” him to return home. He just waited. Sometimes we also need to stay in an attitude of prayer while waiting for the person to come within themselves. Because only the Holy Spirit causes true repentance in hearts, wanting to speed things up only delays… This is not always the case, the previous story of the lost coin (cf. Luke 15: 8-10) brings us back from looking for the lost person. So we need to have the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to know how to position ourselves. If today you have a person dear to your heart who has strayed from God, ask God how you should position yourself, seek them or wait while remaining confident in God. To love is to know how to act in the right way ...
Another aspect of Father's heart is that He's in a waiting position, He knows the son is going to come back. This is what allowed him to see the son from afar ... There, there is no longer any waiting, he runs to meet him. He is aware of the difficulty for this son to return and he will facilitate his return by showing him His heart and His love. For us it is about having no restraint, on the contrary, knowing how to love and welcome people by going to meet them. Imagine this son, his smell and his appearance must have been repugnant, he was a keeper of pigs and yet his Father takes him in His arms… To love is to go out to meet the other without prejudice or restraint.
The next remarkable aspect is that the Father throws himself at the blow of his son and kisses him. He welcomes her into his privacy without asking her any questions and without letting her say a word. He doesn't wait for His son's declaration of repentance, He just loves him for who he is. It is after that the son will repent… This act of love from the Father is certainly what brings the son's repentance to an end. Do not wait for people to be the way we want them or to act in a certain way to love them and show them our love… This is what God is doing for you and is calling you to do for your neighbor, to love him as yourself (cf. Matthew 22:39). To love is to act unconditionally towards others and this is what brings about real change.
To end this love is silent in relation to sin ... The Father does not ask any question in relation to what the son did. He doesn't blame her either, or even say something like “I told you so”. And the craziest of this love that is silent on sin, He does not put any punishment, restriction or consequences ... which unfortunately is often the case today ... This Father restores His son in his identity, his authority and his position ( cf. Luke 15:22), thus giving him all His confidence. It is the celebration and the restoration that prevail. Repentance and forgiveness are not followed by any punishment… What does this mean for your life and relationships? You have been forgiven and released by the Father, don't let anyone or anything make you doubt this and you are called to do the same to others. To love is not to treat the other according to the measure of his past, but of the love and the plan of God!
It's up to you to play to experience this reality!
God has blessed you richly so that you bless abundantly ...
Luke
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