How to Find a Father's Forgiveness

Have you ever disappointed your father? If so, how did that influence your relationship with him?The need for love and validation from our fathers runs deep within all of us. When we disappoint them, forgiveness should be automatic, but often it isn’t. We carry the scars of unforgiveness deep within and long for the healing words that only a father can give. Consequently, we find it hard to forgive.

There's a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read:Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.On Saturday 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.

Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, pp. 13.

Perhaps you are one of the 799 disappointed Pacos. Yet, Father God still stands in front of that newspaper office offering forgiveness to all the Pacos in the world—and all the rest of us. You may never have experienced forgiveness from your father for certain things you regret doing, but Abba Father forgives you. He stands with open arms ready to wrap around you with words of validation and affirmation. Consider spending some time with Abba Father this Father’s Day.

In Him together, Susan Gaddis