We are God’s children. This may be something that you have heard since you were a child, but how often do you think about it and consider the implications of what it means that you are a child of God?
Jesus taught us to call God “father.” Throughout his life, he desired that we would know God as the merciful and loving father that he is. Shortly before his death, Jesus prayed: “O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you; and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:25-26).”
Through our baptism, we are made adopted children of God. As children of God, we share in the sufferings of Christ. We are also co-heirs of God’s kingdom with Christ, and share in his life through his body, the Church.
When you pray, do you approach God as your father? What can we learn from Christ’s life and witness about what it means that God is our father? If we are part of Christ’s body with God’s love within us, how can you demonstrate his love to others?