How God's Love Changes Us: Part 3 - Overcoming Grief, Achieving ReconciliationSample

The God who knows our depravity and is intimately acquainted with the shadow places of our souls still runs toward us, just as the father ran toward his prodigal son. When this provocative grace is offered, will we embrace it for ourselves? The father’s blessing to his son is God’s kindness that leads to our redemption.

It is the voice that gives life, not death—the voice that has no tone of accusation or curse but instead blessing and the highest nobility. The father does not deny the darkness of what the son has done or the pain he has caused; he fully knows the sin but still chooses to run toward his beloved child. The father chooses to bless what the son has cursed. In spite of doubt, he bestows his finest blessings.

Despite his grieving heart, he assumes a brave posture of hope. He allows himself to feel delight despite the heartache that hope sometimes brings. The same is true for our own journeys of homecoming. Just as the father did not humiliate the son, we will not be humiliated as we attempt to make the brave decision to open ourselves to healing change.

What does it mean for you to be kind to yourself? Is this a concept you have considered as necessary for your spiritual growth? How have you encountered kindness in the midst of confrontation? What has this taught you about how God receives you in spite of your sin?

You've completed Overcoming Grief, Achieving Reconciliation which is Part 3 of How God's Love Changes Us: three reading plans based on The Prodigal Son Parable. All three plans are based on Andrew Bauman's book Stumbling Toward Wholeness. Learn more about the book here.