Powerful Revelation: Father & Son - Separate Beings, Own Identity

Had a powerful revelation during my 21-day fast:

Jesus surprised me in the Garden. In that place, I saw my own son. Jesus was holding J with His right hand and holding me with His left. I was pretty puzzled why I wasn't holding my own son.

This is when He spoke, "Do you not know that your son and you are separate beings? His identity is in Me and your identity is in Me. Your son is not supposed to be a reflection of you. He is meant to be a reflection of Me. You cannot father his heart. You can only provide an atmosphere for him to grow in Me and let Me father his heart."

This is so powerful to me.

We see so many parents building their identity in their child. When their child performs well, they feel proud. When the child doesn't, they get upset. They want their child either to be a reflection of them or completely different from them (if they ain't good models).

Parents who build their identity in their child often feel embarrassed if their child behaves inappropriately in the public. Ever wondered why they don't feel embarrassed if the child behaves the same way at home? Because we are afraid of how others may think about us by simply looking at the response of our child. It's self-serving, self-image and nothing to do with the good of the child. Tracing back to the root, it is all about tying our identity to our child. We think that how our child behaves points to our character as parents.

Nothing is further from the truth.

Disclaimer: I guess I need to be careful to say that as parents, if we are not parenting our child, either due to neglect or abuse, then it does have a significant impact on our child's character and behaviours.

There are some sincere parents who have tried their best to parent their child, yet the child turns out wayward. This is when the parents should not carry the weight of the child's character. Because his identity has nothing to do with your identity. Both parents and child are "separate".

My son has to build his identity in Christ. So do I as a parent. He builds his. And I build mine. Just like I can't change anyone's heart, I can't change his heart. I cannot expect his heart to conform to what I want to see.

If I think that I can father my son's heart, I become God and I have just removed Jesus from the whole parenting equation. Jesus must hold my son with His right hand and hold me with His left. We must remain separate beings. For my son's identity is in Christ and mine is in Christ.

My role, as a father/parent, is therefore, to provide an atmosphere for my son to encounter and know Jesus so that Jesus can hold his hand and father his heart. For God has no grandchildren.

This means that I must represent the Father well (as much as I can), so that my son will desire to know the perfect Father personally.

I can never be as intimate with my son as Jesus is. The perfect union with God in Spirit is the most intimate relationship my son can ever have. It's above ALL relationships. My role as an earthly father is simply to help my son cultivate the seed so that it can grow and bear fruit.

Let Jesus father our child's heart and identity. #revelation #fathering101