Everyone desires significance, or rather, recognition. To say that you don’t need recognition is to lie and deceive yourself. Some ministers say that they don’t need recognition, but their actions prove otherwise. Talk is always cheap, because what you do (not what you say) proves what you believe.
A need for recognition/significance from people is the revelation of a lack of fathering.
J began to understand this after many repeated lessons I gave him. Just one day ago, he told me that he was the first to finish his artwork in school and it was put up by his teacher. After affirming him, I asked, “Did you compare and tell your friends how good you are?”
He replied, “No. I didn’t. I only tell Papa and Mama.”
It didn’t begin like this. In the past, he would wanna show off to his friends. But we cultivated a space for him to SHOW OFF to us as his parents. And we poured out affirmations to him without fearing that his head grows too big until it explodes (that’s the traditional Chinese parenting belief).
Now he learnt that he could show off and get recognition from his parents, so that he didn’t need to get recognition from the public.
Jesus was beaten and marred beyond human recognition, so that today, you and I can have the Father’s everlasting recognition. Wanting recognition is only healthy, if it is BEFORE the Father. #fathering101 #identity #recognition
