Tuesday, 2nd Week: We Are Spirit-Guided Sons and Daughters
"You are not to be called rabbi, for you have only one teacher, and you are all
students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father - the one in
heaven. " Matthew 23:8-9
Who are we? Are we what we do? Are we what others say about us? Are we the power we have?
It often seems that way in our society. But the Spirit of Jesus given to us reveals our
true spiritual identities. The Spirit reveals that we belong not to a world of success,
fame, or power but to God. The world enslaves us with fear; the Spirit frees us from that
slavery and restores us to the true relationship. That is what Paul means when he says,
"All who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons [and daughters] of God, for what
you received was not the spirit of slavery to bring you back to fear; you received the
spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Romans 8:15). Who are
we? We are God's beloved sons and daughters!
Calling God, "Abba, Father," is a cry of the heart, a prayer welling up from
our innermost beings. It has nothing to do with the naming of God but everything to do
with claiming God as the source of who we are.
"What keeps you freely and wholeheartedly responding to God as your loving
Father?"
Henri Nouwen