You have received a spirit of adoption as sons through which we cry: Abba! Father! // Romans 8:15 (Alleluia Verse)
Years ago, one of my children tried to convince her little sister that the little one was adopted. The big sister told a fairly convincing story in a very compassionate way. Yet the lie did not have the effect she was looking for. The little one argued against the logic a bit, then simply said, “Okay.” The effect my older child thought she would elicit simply didn't occur, because, in the mind of the youngest, it didn’t matter. In her mind, adoption is a beautiful thing.
Their father was adopted as an infant and raised in a wonderful family. With five pregnancies in ten years and four living children, adoption wasn’t something on the forefront of our minds or the minds of my children, but adoption was always discussed as a blessing.
No matter how your earthly origin story begins, through Baptism you are given a new life as an adopted daughter of the Heavenly Father. You enter into a familial relationship with your Creator and this changes everything. His love for you is not something that is earned, but rather, freely given. It is not contingent upon your perfection or performance, but simply your desire to open yourself to a relationship with Him. Jesus Himself teaches us to pray, “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9, emphasis mine). Likewise, Saint Paul instructs us to cry out to Him by that name: “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15)
A spirit of adoption claims us as His and changes everything. Everything we do and every other role we occupy should be informed and fed through this primary relationship with God the Father.* If we let Him, our Heavenly Father will guide, protect, and provide for us our entire life.
Whether things are going your way or not today, continue to cry out to the Father. He will hear your cries and answer them in His perfect timing.
*For more on your relationship to God as daughter, check out my book Daughter by Design.
Dr. Mary Ruth Hackett is a writer, national speaker, and podcast host covering topics in psychology and faith. She holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and works at the important intersection of faith and developmental science, blending them in the original harmony God intended. Dr. Mary Ruth is the author of Daughter by Design: Discovering Your Identity as God's Beloved Daughter, and co-coauthor of Spiritual Discernment for Beginners: Learning to Hear God and Defeat the Lies of the Enemy. She is a contributing author to All She Had and our children’s devotional prayer book called Rise Up. Find out more about her here.
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