Father’s Day is a time for honoring the Dads of the world. That this occasion also falls on a Sunday makes it a great reminder that we ought to be extra thankful to the Lord God, who is our Spiritual Father.
However, celebrating one’s Spiritual Father is a bit more challenging then celebrating one’s earthly father.
After all, God is well beyond the reach of a Father’s Day Card or a long distance phone call. You can’t take God our to a fancy restaurant, either.
Will simply attending Sunday service on this special day make it special enough? What could you personally do to guarantee making this Father’s Day very special to God?
What would make a really special gift to show your sincere gratitude and love for your Father in Heaven?
The answer to this is a special commitment – a commitment to transcend one’s biological self and truly become a spiritual son or daughter of our Lord God. This is not something that can be accomplished in a day, a month, or a year.
It requires that a new spiritual birth take place from deep inside us, profoundly changing our everyday lives. The Lord, while on earth, revealed the secret to this spiritual process in the simplest terms by boiling the Ten Commandments down to just two – loving God and loving the neighbor.
Sounds simply enough, right? But as we all know, we find ourselves falling way short of such high ideals.
Why is our loving others, and being good, so hard to do? Shouldn’t it be easy?
It seems as though something always gets in the way of our good intentions. In fact, we never take this “something” into account when we engage others.
What we always fail to take into account is our own love of self and self-pride. The reason for this miscalculation is that ego-centeredness is normally quite invisible to the habitual mind.
We can easily see self-centeredness in others, so why should it be so difficult to see in ourselves? The answer to this is that observation alone is needed for us to see this flaw in others, but to see it in ourselves requires our permission. We must want to see unflattering things in ourselves (this is the barrier).
Sincere introspection needs more than seeing. It must be supported by the heart and will.
The point to be made is that unless these unflattering characteristics are recognized and removed, they will always muddy-up our attempts to be good and live spiritual lives. It is only when we ask God for help in detecting and removing these flaws from our lives that our spiritual rebirth begins. And our old life dies away.
This shows God our sincerity and we want to change in our lives.
As these various flaws are removed, we make more room in our hearts for genuine good to flow in from God’s Love.
Before this spiritual process takes place, much of the good people do are merely outward fabrications of goodness and done for the sake of prestige, personal gain, and even fame. Only the removal of these ego-traits will ensure genuine goodness (and abolish hidden agendas).
Humbleness is how we become children of God. Putting others first is the best gift that you could give God for Father’s Day.
