Abba Is Very Fond Of You

In the book “The Shack” by William P. Young there is a phrase that Papa (God) often uses that has been very meaningful to me. It’s when Papa says in some form or another how very fond of someone he is. This thought that God is very fond of each of us has become the newest way to share how much God loves us. I think that is a good thing and something we need to be continually sharing and reinforcing. We have an Abba Father who is especially fond of us.

For many of us, the central truth of my childhood and teenage religion was: God is unpleasable. Now it wasn’t that God’s standards were unreasonable. I don’t ever recall thinking that he didn’t want what was best for me. It was just that he took all the fun out of life but then again so did all those that claimed to love me. But then what compounded the frustration was that, try as I might, I just couldn’t achieve consistently what God wanted. Sometimes I wouldn’t act right, speak right or think right. The result of that for me was a nagging feeling that my failures displeased God.

Now off course, I knew God “loved” me. It’s just that I annoyed him. I always felt I frustrated him. I was certain that I embarrassed him. And all of this meant that I had this nagging feeling that there was a distinct possibility that eventually, in his role as judge, it would be his job to condemn me.

I knew all the Bible verses that urged obedience and held up perfection as God’s ideal for humanity. I knew all the teaching about the consequences of sin and that hot place (not the Bahamas) where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. How could you argue with that?

The doctrine police would tell you that there is nothing to argue about because after all, they are right! However the issue of who’s right or even being right is not what is central. It’s not achievable and not doable….at least not completely. As a result the central truth for my life and my message is that God is very fond of you and me.

God the Unpleasable came from my view of myself as I grew up. For those that knew me in childhood know that my sense of value and feeling loved was based on doing those things that pleased those that loved me. Being loved was based on performance and therefore given my bungling; I couldn’t imagine how anyone could be pleased with my performance.

Truly believing that I have an Abba Father who is very fond of me comes from seeing myself as a father. I take great my delight in my own children and grand children not because of their performance. They have and will be children who like their father have made poor choices and mistakes. But my love and delight in them is not the result of their performance. They are my children and I’m fond of them…. extremely fond of them.

Now of course, God’s ideals are exalted. But those ideals are not minimum standards we must reach in order to earn his favor. Out of knowing that we are loved they are the goals toward which we live. All the while we are bungling toward those ideals, our Abba Father is overflowing with affectionate regard for us. For me. For you.

So share it and shout it: Abba is very fond of you.