LATEST WRITINGS FROM PASTOR PHILIP HOPPE

Posted inTheology and Practice

Acting like your parents

We all fight it at one point or another.  The teenager yells it out, “I will never be like you.”  The likefathernew mother or father resolves that they will parent differently than they were brought up.  The middle aged person tries not to notice the resemblance in the mirror each morning.   Yes, we fight the inevitable.  We battle against the truth that most people will end up a lot like our parents.  We will talk like them.  Think like them.  Yes, even look like them.

I do not know your parents.  So I cannot say whether you should fight the good fight as long as you can or whether you should just allow the inevitable to take hold. 

But this I do know.  If you are baptized into Christ Jesus, you have a Father I am familiar with.  He sits enthroned above in glory.  And here is the good news, since you are baptized, you will end up a lot like your Father.  Yes, in baptism your old self was buried, and you have been raised to newness of life.  And this newness of life that you are blessed to live is a life in which you end up a lot like your Father. You talk like him.  Think like him.  Yes, I guess you could say, you look like him.

And this is such a blessing.  To no longer have to live life bound to sin, enslaved by its relentless attacks.  To instead live free, looking like your Father.

Don’t fight it.  Because of the effectiveness of baptism and the power of God, it is inevitable.  If you are baptized you will end up a lot like your Father.  If you do not fight it it will just happen.  And that is great news.

One thought on “Acting like your parents

  1. YES! So happy to be a member of the “Godsen” clan. As one who has worked (happily so) with family members in a family business, I often begin my morning prayers with the words, “Hey, Pop; what work do you have for me today?”

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